SOME ADVANCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYTICS AND MONITORING

Abstract

The level of knowledge concerning the state of the environment increases continually. Selected examples of activities of the Department of Analytical Chemistry, Chemical Faculty, Gdansk University of Technology (Gdansk, Poland) are presented. Among them the presence of pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment has gained specific attention, which led to the development of on-line and off-line SPE enrichment procedures followed by LC-DAD-MS analysis. A new solvent filled passive sampler, which can cover a long sampling period integrating the pollutant concentration over time, has been presented. The method for simultaneous determination of selected phenols and phenoxyacids based on their preconcentration using solid-phase extraction and analysis by reverse phase HPLC has been presented and its application for the monitoring of pollutants in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Gdansk (Baltic Sea, Poland) is also shown. Data concerning degradation processes of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in various organic solvents are shown. Degradation can not be eliminated entirely, but the process can be slowed down considerably. Some degradation products were identified using LC-DAD-MS with a single quadrupole. Application of a LC-ES-MS technique for the determination of anatoxin, nodularin and microcystins in Polish lakes and the sea has also been presented.