The use of fast molecular descriptors and artificial neural networks approach in organochlorine compounds electron ionization mass spectra classification.

Developing of theoretical tools can be very helpful for supporting new pollutant detection. Nowadays, a combination of mass spectrometry and chromatographic techniques are the most basic environmental monitoring methods. In this paper, two organochlorine compound mass spectra classification systems were proposed. The classification models were developed within the framework of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and fast 1D and 2D molecular descriptor calculations. Based on the intensities of two characteristic MS peaks, namely, [M] and [M-35], two classification criterions were proposed. According to criterion I, class 1 comprises [M] signals with the intensity higher than 800 NIST units, while class 2 consists of signals with the intensity lower or equal than 800. According to criterion II, class 1 consists of [M-35] signals with the intensity higher than 100, while signals with the intensity lower or equal than 100 belong to class 2. As a result of ANNs learning stage, five models for both classification criterions were generated. The external model validation showed that all ANNs are characterized by high predicting power; however, criterion I-based ANNs are much more accurate and therefore are more suitable for analytical purposes. In order to obtain another confirmation, selected ANNs were tested against additional dataset comprising popular sunscreen agents disinfection by-products reported in previous works.

Estimation of physicochemical properties of 2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC) degradation products and their toxicological evaluation.

The organic UV filters, commonly used in personal protection products, are of concern because of their potential risk to aquatic ecosystems and living organisms. One of UV filters is ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC) acid. Studies have shown that, in the presence of oxidizing and chlorinating factors, EHMC forms a series of products with different properties than the substrate. In this study, the toxicities of EHMC and its transformation/degradation products formed under the influence of NaOCl/UV and H2O2/UV systems in the water medium were tested using Microtox® bioassay and by observation of mortality of juvenile crustaceans Daphnia magna and Artemia Salina. We have observed that oxidation and chlorination products of EHMC show significantly higher toxicity than EHMC alone. The toxicity of chemicals is related to their physicochemical characteristic such as lipophilicity and substituent groups. With the increase in lipophilicity of products, expressed as log KOW, the toxicity (EC50) increases. On the basis of physicochemical properties such as vapour pressure (VP), solubility (S), octanol-water partition coefficient (KOW), bioconcentration factor (BCF) and half-lives, the overall persistence (POV) and long-range transport potential (LRTP) of all the products and EHMC were calculated. It was shown that the most persistent and traveling on the long distances in environment are methoxyphenol chloroderivatives, then methoxybenzene chloroderivatives, EHMC chloroderivatives, methoxybenzaldehyde chloroderivatives and methoxycinnamate acid chloroderivatives. These compounds are also characterised by high toxicity.

Studies on the formation of formaldehyde during 2-ethylhexyl 4-(dimethylamino)benzoate demethylation in the presence of reactive oxygen and chlorine species.

In order to protect the skin from UV radiation, personal care products (PCPS) often contain chemical UV-filters. These compounds can enter the environment causing serious consequences on the water ecosystems. The aim of this study was to examine, the effect of different factors, such as UV light, the presence of NaOCl and H2O2 on the formaldehyde formation during popular UV filter, 2-ethylhexyl 4-(dimethylamino)benzoate (ODPABA) demethylation. The concentration of formaldehyde was determined by VIS spectrophotometry after derivatization. The reaction mixtures were qualitatively analyzed using GC/MS chromatography. The highest concentration of formaldehyde was observed in the case of ODPABA/H2O2/UV reaction mixture. In order to describe two types of demethylation mechanisms, namely, radical and ionic, the experimental results were enriched with Fukui function analysis and thermodynamic calculations. In the case of non-irradiated system containing ODPABA and NaOCl, demethylation reaction probably proceeds via ionic mechanism. As it was established, amino nitrogen atom in the ODPABA molecule is the most susceptible site for the HOCl electrophilic attack, which is the first step of ionic demethylation mechanism. In the case of irradiated mixtures, the reaction is probably radical in nature. The results of thermodynamic calculations showed that abstraction of the hydrogen from N(CH3)2 group is more probable than from 2-ethylhexyl moiety, which indicates higher susceptibility of N(CH3)2 to the oxidation.

Formation of chlorinated breakdown products during degradation of sunscreen agent, 2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate in the presence of sodium hypochlorite.

In this study, a new degradation path of sunscreen active ingredient, 2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate (EHMC) and 4-methoxycinnamic acid (MCA) in the presence of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), was discussed. The reaction products were detected using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Since HOCl treatment leads to more polar products than EHMC, application of polar extracting agents, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate/n-hexane mixture, gave better results in terms of chlorinated breakdown products identification than n-hexane. Reaction of EHMC with HOCl lead to the formation of C=C bridge cleavage products such as 2-ethylhexyl chloroacetate, 1-chloro-4-methoxybenzene, 1,3-dichloro-2-methoxybenzene, and 3-chloro-4-methoxybenzaldehyde. High reactivity of C=C bond attached to benzene ring is also characteristic for MCA, since it can be converted in the presence of HOCl to 2,4-dichlorophenole, 2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone, 1,3-dichloro-2-methoxybenzene, 1,2,4-trichloro-3-methoxybenzene, 2,4,6-trichlorophenole, and 3,5-dichloro-2-hydroxyacetophenone. Surprisingly, in case of EHMC/HOCl/UV, much less breakdown products were formed compared to non-UV radiation treatment. In order to describe the nature of EHMC and MCA degradation, local reactivity analysis based on the density functional theory (DFT) was performed. Fukui function values showed that electrophilic attack of HOCl to the C=C bridge in EHMC and MCA is highly favorable (even more preferable than phenyl ring chlorination). This suggests that HOCl electrophilic addition is probably the initial step of EHMC degradation.

Determination of linoleic acid in toothpaste by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection.

A new method for the determination of linoleic acid (LA) in toothpaste by a routine analysis has been proposed. Studies were based on the ISO 5509 procedure, which was modified for the purpose of LA determination in the toothpaste. Gas chromatography (GC) was employed for the qualitative and quantitative determination of linoleic acid methyl ester. The content of LA (5.31%) in sunflower oil added to the toothpaste composition (0.5%) was determined, and then the optimization studies for the determination of LA in the toothpaste samples were carried out. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the procedure developed was 9.96% (n = 9). The quantitative analysis showed that the content of LA in the toothpaste samples studied was 0.0258 +/- 0.0011%. The detection limit of LA in toothpaste was approximately 0.001%.

Application of Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction for Determination of Chloro-Organic Compounds in Sewage Samples.

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) has been optimized and applied to the determination of the volatile halogenated compounds (VHCs) and semi-volatile halogenated compounds (SVHCs). Three types of SPME fiber coated with different stationary phases (PDMS-100 mum, CAR/PDMS-75 mum, PDMS/DVB-65 mum) were used to examine their extraction efficiencies for the compounds tested. Experimental parameters such as the selection of SPME coatings, extraction time, and addition of salts were studied. The carboxen-polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS) fiber appears to be the most suitable for the determination of VHCs. Analytical parameters such as linearity, limit of detection, and precision were also evaluated. Application of ECD detector for the determination of VHCs and SVHCs allows their determination on the low concentration level, ranging from 0.005 to 0.8 mug/L(-1). The HS-SPME-GC/ECD procedure gave good analytical precision expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) (ranged from 5.08% to 8.07%) for a concentration level of 5 mug/L(-1) and good linearity (r(2) > 0.98) in a wide calibration range. The applied HS-SPME-GC/ECD method was found to be a quick and effective technique for the determination of microtrace amounts of volatile and semi-volatile halogenated compounds in samples containing high amounts of various organic compounds.

Effect of Parameters on Oxychlorination of Tert-Butyl Ethers.

The effect of concentration, molar ratios of reagents, pH, and temperature on formation of chloro-organic products in reaction of tert-butyl ethers with chloride ions and hydrogen peroxide has been determined. A significant effect of Cl(-) ions and H(2)O(2) molar ratios on the rate of chloro-organic product formation has been observed. Studies on oxychlorination of tert-butylethyl ether (ETBE) at pH 7, 3.5, and 2.5 have been carried out. It was found that introduction of hydronium ions into the reaction system considerably hastened the process of chloro-organic product formation. Hydronium ions contribute to the formation of the reactive tert-butyl carbocation, which undergoes secondary reactions in the presence of reactive forms of chlorine and oxygen. Moreover, the effect of temperature on ETBE (tert-butylethyl ether) and MTBE (tert-butylmethyl ether) conversions was verified. The reactions of MTBE and ETBE oxychlorination were carried out at temperatures of 5 degrees C, 20 degrees C, and 35 degrees C.

Determination of fluoride in toothpaste using headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection.

A new method for determination of fluoride in toothpaste employing the headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography/flame ionization detection (GC/FID) has been proposed. It is a development of the method for determination of fluoride using trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) as the derivatization reagent to form trimethylfluorosilane (TMFS), with the liquid/liquid extraction (LLE) step replaced by HS-SPME. To introduce the latter, it was necessary to determine the conditions of the reaction and to optimize the two stages of the SPME procedure: extraction and desorption. The parameters of the SPME analysis using carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS) fiber were defined and compared with the corresponding ones for the LLE method, used as a reference. Also, these two methods were compared with respect to their linearity, precision, and accuracy. Results from toothpaste analyses using these two methods were highly correlated, indicating the potential to use the SPME extraction as an inexpensive and solventfree alternative to the LLE method.

Experimental and theoretical studies on formation and degradation of chloro organic compounds.

Studies on oxidation of tert-butyl ethers in the presence of chloride ions proved that acid medium favoured formation of chloro organic compounds. 1,2-Dichloro-2-methylpropane, 3-chloro-2-chloromethylpropene were identified among the reaction products. Presence of these compounds was identified both in the case when methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl-tert-butyl ether (ETBE) were subjected to reaction. Reaction products were analysed by gas chromatography method with application of -FID, -MS and -AED detectors. On the basis of experimental data, the path of tert-butyl ethers conversion to dichloro products was proposed. It was found that the identified chloro derivatives could be formed both by ionic and radical reactions. In order to confirm this thesis for the proposed scheme of reaction, the theoretical calculations of molecular simulation of the reaction paths were performed.

Determination of epichlorohydrin in water and sewage samples.

The simple, quick and effective methods for the analysis of epichlorohydrin (ECH) in water and sewage samples with the use of gas chromatography have been presented. From among all the methods developed, the procedures for monitoring drinking-water quality and the methods which allow the determination of epichlorohydrin in sewage samples have been selected. The limits of ECH detection have been determined by direct aqueous injection (DAI) into the chromatographic column and an analysis with the application of a flame ionization detector (FID), a mass spectrometry detector (MS), an electron capture detector (ECD) and atomic emission detection (AED) detectors. The method allows the determination of ECH in water samples at the concentration level of 0.1mgl(-1). Moreover, the developed methods of water samples preparation for chromatographic analysis using the following extraction methods: headspace (HS), stripping with adsorption on solid phase, liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), solid phase extraction (SPE) and solid phase microextraction (SPME) have been evaluated. The limits of ECH detection for each procedure with the application of gas chromatography (GC) combined with various detectors have been determined and their statistical evaluation has been presented. The SPME method allowed us to determine ECH in water samples at the concentration levels of 1.0ngl(-1). The results of studies on the choice of the selective methods allowing ECH analysis in sewage samples have been demonstrated. The applied SPME method was found to be a quick and effective technique to determine micro trace amounts of ECH in samples containing high amounts of various organic compounds.

Some aspects of the analysis of environmental pollutants in sediments using pressurized liquid extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) is a fully automated extraction technique for isolation of analytes from solid samples. This technique combines elevated temperature and pressure of liquid solvents during the extraction process. In this study the efficiency of a PLE system for the isolation of wide range of analytes (polychlorinated biphenyls and organic pesticides from sediments under different pressure and temperature conditions) was investigated. The temperature 100 degrees C and pressure 6.9 MPa (1000 p.s.i.; 1 p.s.i.=6894.76 Pa) were found to be the most efficient from all investigated conditions. Using these PLE parameters, the average recoveries for most of the analytes were in the range 80-105% and relative standard deviation was usually under 15%. The conditions of determination of analytes in the extracts using GC-MS were established. Some problems occurring during the analysis of real samples, such as coelution of analytes, were established. The influence of internal standard addition on the final analysis results was determined.