Abstract
Full evaporative vacuum extraction (FEVE) was developed in this work for analysis of a broad range of semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in drinking water and surface water. Sorbent pens are used in a two-stage process that first evaporates the sample matrix through sorbent beds under vacuum to recover the lighter SVOCs, followed by the application of a higher temperature and stronger vacuum to the sample vial to recover the remaining heavier SVOCs once the matrix has evaporated. After extraction, the sorbent pens are desorbed into a GC-MS using a uniquely designed "splitless" delivery system to maximize sensitivity. Critical extraction and desorption parameters that affect the method performance were optimized. After FEVE, the sorbent pens can be stored for 7-10 days at room temperature while maintaining a less than 15% loss in analyte recovery. As a proof of concept, 10 drinking water and surface water samples were analyzed using this method. 69 analytes were detected in these water samples, with the highest concentration of 1986 ng/L for bromacil. Heptachlor epoxide, chlorpyrifos, metolachlor, butachlor, and 2,3',4',5-tetrachlorobiphenyl were detected in four samples. None of the analytes were above the health and safety thresholds set by California Proposition 65.