Rapid analysis of triclosan in water samples using an in-tube ultrasonication assisted emulsification microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-electron capture detection

Abstract

In this study, a new in-tube based ultrasound-assisted emulsification microextraction (IT-USAEME) technique coupled with gas chromatography-micro-electron capture detection (GC-μECD) was developed for the efficient and rapid analysis of triclosan in environmental water samples. In this extraction procedure, the aqueous sample was taken in an indigenously fabricated home-made glass extraction device (an 8 mL glass tube inbuilt with a self-scaled capillary tip) and extraction solvent (low density organic solvent) was added to it followed by ultrasonication. After extraction, the upper extractant layer was narrowed into the self-scaled capillary tip by pushing the plunger plug; thus making the collection and measurement of the upper organic solvent layer simple and convenient. Parameters affecting the extraction efficiency such as selection of extraction solvent, extraction solvent volume, ultrasonication time, pH and ionic strength were thoroughly investigated and optimized. Under optimal conditions, the method showed good linearity in the concentration range from 20–2000 ng L⁻¹ with a correlation coefficient of 0.9982 for the target analyte. The limit of detection was 4 ng L⁻¹ and the enrichment factor obtained was 331. The method was validated with real water samples and the relative recoveries of environmental water samples ranged between 91.2 and 97.3% and relative standard deviations ranged between 2.8 and 5.4%, making the proposed method highly reliable. Moreover, the present approach avoids the usage of chlorinated organic extraction solvents and derivatization processes for triclosan determination. The proposed method provides a simple, rapid, sensitive, low cost, easy to handle (in-tube set-up for USAEME) and eco-friendly procedure to determine triclosan in aqueous samples.