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Emerging organic contaminants in wastewater are usually analyzed by targeted approaches, and especially estrogens have been the focus of environmental research due to their high hormonal activity. The selection of specific target compounds means, however, that most of the sample components, including transformation products and potential new contaminants, are neglected. In this study, the fate of steroidal compounds in wastewater treatment processes was evaluated by a nontargeted approach based on comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The potential of the nontargeted approach to generate comprehensive information about sample constituents was demonstrated with use of statistical tools. Transformation pathways of the tentatively identified compounds with steroidal four-ring structure were proposed. The purification efficiency of the wastewater treatment plants was studied, and the distribution of the compounds of interest in the suspended solids, effluent water, and sludge was measured. The results showed that, owing to strong adsorption of hydrophobic compounds onto the solid matter, the steroids were mostly bound to the suspended solids of the effluent water and the sewage sludge at the end of the treatment process. The most abundant steroid class was androstanes in the aqueous phase and cholestanes in the solid phase. 17β-estradiol was the most abundant estrogen in the aqueous phase, but it was only detected in the influent samples indicating efficient removal during the treatment process. In the sludge samples, however, high concentrations of an oxidation product of 17β-estradiol, estrone, were measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play a key role in atmospheric chemistry and physics. They participate in photochemical reactions in the atmosphere, which have direct implications on climate through, e.g. aerosol particle formation. Forests are important sources of VOCs, and the limited resources and infrastructures often found in many remote environments call for the development of portable devices. In this research, the potential of needle trap microextraction and portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the study of VOCs at forest site was evaluated. Measurements were performed in summer and autumn 2014 at the Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations (SMEAR II) in Hyytiälä, Finland. During the first part of the campaign (summer) the applicability of the developed method was tested for the determination of monoterpenes, pinonaldehyde, aldehydes, amines and anthropogenic compounds. The temporal variation of aerosol precursors was determined, and evaluated against temperature and aerosol number concentration data. The most abundant monoterpenes, pinonaldehyde and aldehydes were successfully measured, their relative amounts being lower during days when particle number concentration was higher. Ethylbenzene, p- and m-xylene were also found when wind direction was from cities with substantial anthropogenic activity. An accumulation of VOCs in the snow cover was observed in the autumn campaign. Results demonstrated the successful applicability of needle trap microextraction and portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the rapid in situ determination of organic gaseous compounds in the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A method is described to determine vapor pressures of compounds in multicomponent systems simultaneously. The method is based on temperature-gradient analysis by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOFMS). Vapor pressures are determined with the aid of known vapor pressure values of reference compounds eluting before and after the analytes. Reference compounds with the same functionalities as the analytes are preferred, but when these are not available, the alkane series can be utilized. The number of compounds whose vapor pressures can be determined is limited only by the peak capacity of the chromatographic system. Although the lowest subcooled vapor pressure determined was 0.006Pa, for tetrahydroaraucarolone in an atmospheric aerosol sample, vapor pressures as low as 10−6 Pa can be measured with the described set-up. Even lower values can be measured with higher GC temperatures and longer analysis times. Since only a few picograms of compound is required, in a mixture of any complexity, the GCxGC-TOFMS method offers unique sensitivity, rapidity, and comprehensiveness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Vapor pressures (subcooled liquid, p liquid) of atmospherically relevant oxidation products of β-caryophyllene (β-caryophyllene aldehyde 0.18 ± 0.03 Pa and β-nocaryophyllene aldehyde 0.17 ± 0.03 Pa), and α-pinene (pinonaldehyde 16.8 ± 0.20 Pa, cis-pinic acid 0.12 ± 0.06 Pa, and cis-pinonic acid 0.99 ± 0.19 Pa) at 298 K were obtained by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (FID) and mass spectrometric (MS) detection. The effects of stationary phase polarity and column film thickness on the vapor pressure values were investigated. Increase in stationary phase polarity provided smaller values, while increase in film thickness gave slightly higher values. Values for vapor pressure were at least two orders of magnitude lower when obtained by a method utilizing vaporization enthalpy (determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry) than by retention index method. Finally, the results were compared with values calculated by group contribution theory. For the β-caryophyllene oxidation products, the values measured by gas chromatography were slightly lower than those obtained by theoretical calculations. The opposite trend was observed for the α-pinene oxidation products. The methods based on gas chromatography are concluded to be highly useful for the determination of vapor pressures of semi-volatile compounds. Except for the most polar pinic and pinonic acids, differences between vapor pressure values obtained by GC–FID and GC–MS were small. Since GC–MS provides structural information simultaneously, the use of GC–MS is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method is introduced for the sampling of volatile low molecular weight alkylamines in ambient air and wastewater by utilizing a novel SPME Arrow system, which contains a larger volume of sorbent compared to a standard SPME fiber. Parameters affecting the extraction, such as coating material, need for preconcentration, sample volume, pH, stirring rate, salt addition, extraction time and temperature were carefully optimized. In addition, analysis conditions, including desorption temperature and time as well as gas chromatographic parameters, were optimized. Compared to conventional SPME fiber, the SPME Arrow had better robustness and sensitivity. Average intermediate reproducibility of the method expressed as relative standard deviation was 12% for dimethylamine and 14% for trimethylamine, and their limit of quantification 10 μg/L and 0.13 μg/L respectively. Working range was from limits of quantification to 500 μg/L for dimethylamine and to 130 μg/L for trimethylamine. Several alkylamines were qualitatively analyzed in real samples, while target compounds dimethyl- and trimethylamines were quantified. The concentrations in influent and effluent wastewater samples were almost the same (∼80 μg/L for dimethylamine, 120 μg/L for trimethylamine) meaning that amines pass the water purification process unchanged or they are produced at the same rate as they are removed. For the air samples, preconcentration with phosphoric acid coated denuder was required and the concentration of trimethylamine was found to be around 1 ng/m 3 . The developed method was compared with optimized method based on conventional SPME and advantages and disadvantages of both approaches are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]