Environmental analysis of organic compounds in water using solid phase micro extraction

Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME) involves exposing a fused silica fiber coated with stationary phase to a contaminated water sample. The organic analytes become partitioned between the stationary phase and the water and when equilibrium is reached the fiber is removed from the solution and the analytes are thermally desorbed in the injector of a gas chromatograph. The fiber is contained in a syringe to facilitate handling. Factors which affect linear range, limit of detection, and total analysis time are discussed with regard to the development of a method for analysis of volatile compounds in environmental water samples. The sensitivity of the method was determined by the thickness of the film of stationary phase; the equilibration time, however, increased with the film thickness, although it can be minimized by use of a cross‐shaped stirrer bar. Increasing the thickness of stationary phase in the analytical column enables the cryofocusing temperature to be increased from −40 to −15°C. With an ion trap mass spectrometer, detection limits required by the US Environmental Protection Agency are met for all compounds except chloromethane and chloroethane. The method has been applied to environmental water samples.