Abstract |
Nine analytical methods covering 54 organic contaminants which may be present in drinking water or drinking water sources are described in detail. Seven of these methods cover compounds designated for regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986. Regulations for the group are in the proposal stages with promulgation scheduled for June 1992. The other two methods are for chlorination disinfection byproducts and may be regulated as part of EPA's disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts rule scheduled for proposal early in 1992. Most of the analytes may be classified as non-volatile and three of the methods entail separations by high performance liquid chromatography. The remainder employ capillary column gas chromatography. One of these requires detection of a potentially very toxic contaminant, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, at the low parts per trillion level. Labeled isotopes of the analyte are employed as tracers and mass spectrometry is required for detection and unambiguous identification. Three of the methods herein offer new and simplified liquid-solid extraction procedures, a trend which is likely to become even more pronounced in the future. |