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Development of U.S. EPA method 559 for the determination of nonylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol in drinking water by solid phase extraction and LC/MS/MS
Citation:
Tettenhorst, D. AND J. Shoemaker. Development of U.S. EPA method 559 for the determination of nonylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol in drinking water by solid phase extraction and LC/MS/MS. 2019 National Environmental Monitoring Conference, Jacksonville, FL, August 05 - 09, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
This product supports the Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) and the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The methods developed for this product may also be useful for Clean Water Act applications as well. This research supports an ongoing OW need. The methods developed for this product are critically needed for OW to conduct the UCMR, which is done every five years. It also informs the update of the CCL, which is also done on a five-year cycle.
Description:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water (OGWDW) is responsible for protecting the nation’s drinking water from known and emerging contaminants. OGWDW uses the Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) to identify chemicals that might require future regulation for the protection of drinking water. A key piece of information that must be available to make a regulatory determination is nationwide occurrence data for the contaminants under consideration. OGWDW collects the necessary occurrence data under its Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulations (UCMR). Thus, standardized methods that will produce data of sufficient quality for UCMR monitoring of contaminants are needed. Nonylphenol and octylphenol are mainly used to produce ethoxylates which are non-ionic surfactants. These surfactants are used in detergents, paints, pesticides, personal care products and plastics. Nonylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol are potential endocrine disrupting compounds that have been found in surface and ground waters. CCL 4, published in November of 2016, has identified nonylphenol as a contaminant of interest. Method 559, a solid phase extraction (SPE)-LC/MSMS method, has been developed for nonylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol. The method addresses issues specific to analyzing compounds in drinking water, such as preservatives, internal and surrogate standards, and aqueous sample and extract holding times. Samples were preserved with sodium bisulfate to inhibit microbial growth and ascorbic acid for dechlorination. Average recoveries of 93.9 - 97.1% with RSDs of ≤3.5% in 250 mL of preserved tap water have been obtained using Oasis HLB and Strata-X polymeric SPE cartridges. Precision, accuracy, sensitivity and ruggedness will be demonstrated in deionized water and various tap water matrices, along with aqueous and extract holding time data.
