Development of negligible depletion hollow fiber-protected liquid-phase microextraction for sensing freely dissolved triazines.

A new sampling method, termed negligible depletion hollow fiber-protected liquid-phase microextraction, was developed for sensing the freely dissolved concentration (C(free)) and evaluating the availability of atrazine (ATR), desethyl atrazine (DEA), and simazine (SIM) in water. The sampling device was prepared by impregnating 1-octanol to both the pores and the lumen of a piece of polypropylene microporous hollow fiber membrane. After equilibrium and negligible depletion extraction, the 1-octanol in the lumen of the hollow fiber (10 microl) was collected for determination of triazines. Determination of C(free) and the distribution coefficient to 1-octanol (D(ow)) can be performed with this technique. A wide linear working range (1-200 microg/L) and low detection limits (0.1-1 microg/L) were obtained for triazines. Measured log D(ow) values of DEA (1.44 +/- 0.04), SIM (2.06 +/- 0.06), and ATR (2.33 +/- 0.05) agreed well with those reported in the literature. The measured D(ow) values were independent of the chemical concentration and sample pH (pH 3-10) and negligibly affected by the sample salinity (0-500 mM), suggesting that environmentally relevant pH and salinity have no significant effects on the availability of triazines. Although a slight (< or = 31%) increase of C(free) was observed, one-way analysis of variance indicated the C(free) of triazines were not significantly affected by the presence of Aldrich humic acid, Acros humic acid, and bovine albumin V (dissolved organic carbon [DOC], 0-100 mg/L). From 3 to 36% of the spiked triazines, however, were found to associate with the dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface-water samples (DOC, 32.0-61.9 mg/L), suggesting the origin of the DOM is a key parameter in determining its association with and, thus, the availability of triazines.