DETECTION OF ORGANOPHOSPHORUS ESTERS (OPEs) IN GROUNDWATER

Emerging pollutants, in particular, organic pollutants in groundwater are not enough researched due to the absence of monitoring regulations, nevertheless, monitoring is on a voluntary base. Organophosphate esters (OPEs), triesters, are used as flame retardants and plasticizers to protect or enhance the properties of plastics, textiles, and many other materials. They are high-production volume chemicals with large variations in physical-chemical properties widely used in many human activities and can be detected in groundwater due to their insolubility in water, especially in wastewater. There are developed analytical methods for the determination of OPEs in water i.e., various extraction techniques followed the gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Sampling was carried out in groundwater from the karst aquifer Bokanjac – Poličnik near the city of Zadar, Croatia in order to detect some of the OPEs. To determine their continuous presence in the case study aquifer, samples were taken during the entire hydrological year, that is, once during each season through one year. Some of the OPEs were detected in samples of groundwater from the karst aquifer Bokanjac – Poličnik. Preparation of samples was made with the Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) method and analyzed with liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry and quadrupole time of flight (LC-MS/QTOF). In collected samples nine OPEs were identified with Water Screening Personal Compound Database and Library (PCDL): tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate - TBEP, tricresyl phosphate - TCP, triphenyl phosphate - TPPA, tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate - TCPP, (tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate - TCEP, tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl) phosphate - TDCPP, diethyl phthalate - DEP, tri-n-butyl phosphate - TBP, and di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate - DEHA.

Acknowledgment: KK.01.1.1.04.0006 - Otpad i Sunce u službi fotokatalitičke razgradnje mikroonečišćivala u vodama (OS-Mi) and KK.05.1.1.02.0022 – Upravljanje krškim priobalnim vodonosincima ugroženim klimatskim promjenama (UKV)