Application of In-Syringe Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction and Narrow-Bore Tube Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction for the Determination of Trace Amounts of BTEX in Water Samples

Abstract

Two new simple and effective methods based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) procedure, termed "in-syringe DLLME (IS-DLLME)" and "narrow-bore tube DLLME (NB-DLLME)", were developed and applied for rapid and simultaneous separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene isomers in water samples followed by gas chromatographic analysis. Different parameters influencing the extraction efficiency of both methods such as type and volume of the extraction solvent and the disperser solvent; pH, temperature and volume of sample solution and ionic strength of samples were investigated and optimized. Under optimal condition, the limits of detection ranged from 1.7 to 2.4 µg L(-1) for IS-DLLME and 1.5 to 2.2 µg L(-1) for NB-DLLME. Precision (as relative standard deviation) of the two techniques was between 2.1 and 4.6% for IS-DLLME and between 1.5 and 4.5% for NB-DLLME. The enrichment factors found to be between 20-29 and 31-73 for IS- and NB-DLLME, respectively. The applicability of the proposed methods was investigated by analyzing real water samples.