Development of a solid-phase extraction method followed by HPLC-UV detection for the determination of phenols in water

Abstract

A gradient HPLC-UV method for the determination of phenol and 10 of its derivatives was developed. Optimization studies were performed on parameters such as pH, solvents ratio, column temperature, sample volume, run time and flow rate. Calibration experiments were tested for linearity and reproducibility. Milli-Q water (HPLC water) was spiked with phenols’ standard solutions for recovery studies using solid-phase extraction (SPE) for analytes enrichment. The total run time was 20 min; the coefficient of determination, R2 was > 0.99 for all analytes; mean percentage recovery ranged between 67.9±7.28 and 99.6±4.26. Detection limits ranged from 0.51 to 13.79 µg/ml while reproducibility expressed by the coefficient of variation of triplicate extractions was less than 12% for the 11 analytes. Two of the analytes, 2-chlorophenol and 2, 4-dichlorophenol were detected in some drinking water samples analysed.