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Determination of Three Estrogens in Environmental Water Samples Using Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Fluorescence Detector

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Abstract

In this work the dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction technique (DLLME) is presented as an important alternative to the classical extraction methods and was used to extract and concentrate estrogens’ before its quantification by HPLC in environmental water samples. For the evaluation of the analytical methodology, the following conditions were used: sample volume 8 mL, extraction solvent 200 μL of chlorobenzene, and dispersive solvent 2000 μL of acetone. The enrichment factor (EF) was 140 for estrone, 202 for 17β-estradiol (E2), and 199 for 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2). Limit of detection was 20 ng L−1 for E1, 3.1 ng L−1 for E2, and 2.7 ng L−1 for EE2. Repeatability and intermediate reproducibility presented values of relative standard deviation lower than 10%. Finally, recovery tests were performed to evaluate the water matrices’ effects on the extraction performance, resulting in recoveries between 76 and 110% in surface water and between 84 and 109% in wastewater.

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Funding

The authors Erika Sousa, Reyla Dias, Lanna Silva, and Gilmar Silva would like to acknowledge Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa (Fapema) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for the funding obtained in this work. Diana Lima was funded by national funds (OE), through FCT Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5, and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19. Also, thanks are due for the financial support to CESAM (UIDB/50017/2020+UIDP/50017/2020) and to FCT/MCTES through national funds and funding by FEDER through CENTRO 2020 and by national funds through within the research project PTDC/ASP-PES/29021/2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CESAM & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Érika M. L. Sousa, Diana L. D Lima & Valdemar I. Esteves

  2. Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Maranhão, Department of Chemistry, Monte Castelo Campus, Getúlio Vargas Avenue, N. 04, São Luís, MA, 65030-005, Brazil

    Reyla A. S. Dias, Natilene M. Brito, Arlan S. Freitas, Lanna K. Silva & Gilmar S. Silva

  3. Federal Institute of Education Science and Technology of Maranhão, Maracanã Campus, Av. dos Curiós, S/N, Vila Esperança, São Luís, MA, 65095-460, Brazil

    Eliane R. Sousa

  4. Department of Chemistry, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Goias, Morrinhos Campus, Highway BR 153, KM 633, Morrinhos, GO, 75650-000, Brazil

    Gilberto S. Silva

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  1. Érika M. L. Sousa
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  2. Reyla A. S. Dias
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  3. Eliane R. Sousa
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  4. Natilene M. Brito
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  5. Arlan S. Freitas
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  6. Gilberto S. Silva
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  7. Lanna K. Silva
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  8. Diana L. D Lima
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  9. Valdemar I. Esteves
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Correspondence to Érika M. L. Sousa.

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Sousa, É.M.L., Dias, R.A.S., Sousa, E.R. et al. Determination of Three Estrogens in Environmental Water Samples Using Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Fluorescence Detector. Water Air Soil Pollut 231, 172 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04552-8

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