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N-nitrosodimethylamine in drinking water using a rapid, solid-phase extraction method

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Abstract

A simple, rapid method for the extraction of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) from drinking and surface waters was developed using Ambersorb 572. Development of an alternative method to classical liquid-liquid extraction techniques was necessary to handle the workload presented by implementation of a provincial guideline of 9 ppt for drinking water and a regulatory level of 200 ppt for effluents. A granular adsorbent, Ambersorb 572, was used to extract the NDMA from the water in the sample bottle. The NDMA was extracted from the Ambersorb 572 with dichloromethane in the autosampler vial. Method characteristics include a precision of 4 % for replicate analyses, an accuracy of 6 % at 10 ppt and a detection limit of 1.0 ppt NDMA in water. Comparative data between the Ambersorb 572 method and liquid-liquid extraction showed excellent agreement (average difference of 12 %). With the Ambersorb 572 method, dichloromethane use has been reduced by a factor of 1,000 and productivity has been increased by a factor of 3–4. Monitoring of a drinking water supply showed rapidly changing concentrations of NDMA from day to day.

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Author notes

  1. Carolyn J. Koester

    Present address: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Chemistry and Materials Science Division, University of California, 94551, Livermore, California, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Environment and Energy, Laboratory Services Branch, 125 Resources Road, M9P 3V6, Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada

    Stephen W. D. Jenkins, Carolyn J. Koester, Vincent Y. Taguchi, David T. Wang, Jean-Paul F. P. Palmentier & Kim P. Hong

Authors
  1. Stephen W. D. Jenkins
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  2. Carolyn J. Koester
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  3. Vincent Y. Taguchi
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  4. David T. Wang
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  5. Jean-Paul F. P. Palmentier
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  6. Kim P. Hong
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Jenkins, S.W.D., Koester, C.J., Taguchi, V.Y. et al. N-nitrosodimethylamine in drinking water using a rapid, solid-phase extraction method. Environ. Sci. & Pollut. Res. 2, 207–210 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02986767

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02986767

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