Development and application of a polar coating for stir bar sorptive extraction of emerging pollutants from environmental water samples

In the present study, a stir bar coated with hydrophilic polymer based on poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone-co-divinylbenzene) was prepared for the sorptive extraction of polar compounds. The main parameters affecting the polymerisation of the coating were investigated. The new stir bar was applied successfully in stir bar sorptive extraction with liquid desorption followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in tandem with a triple quadrupole for the determination of a group of polar pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in environmental water matrices. Different variables affecting extraction and desorption such as agitation speed, temperature, ionic strength and extraction time were optimised. The results showed that the stir bar is able to enrich the selected analytes effectively. The developed method was applied to determine a group of PPCPs in different complex environmental samples, including river, effluent and influent waste water. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.