Molecularly imprinted polymer-based fiber array extraction of eight estrogens from environmental water samples prior to high-performance liquid chromatography analysis

A fiber array extraction method based on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as fiber coatings for the simultaneous enrichment of three classes of environmental estrogens (EEs) was proposed. The MIP fiber array mainly relies on the selective recognition of MIPs for target analytes and their structural analogs and utilizes the prepared fibers to develop an effective extraction device that can simultaneously adsorb multiple estrogens. The MIP fiber array showed increased adsorption throughput and greatly improved detection sensitivity in comparison with single MIP fiber. The proposed fiber array extraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was also used to analyze three types of EEs in environmental water, and satisfactory recoveries of 80.8%-114.1% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.8%-12.4% were achieved. The detection limits of bisphenols (BPs) and parabens (PBs) were identical at 0.003 mu g L-1, and the detection limits of phthalates (PEs) were 0.016 mu g L-1. The MIP fiber array is an effective strategy to simultaneously enrich environmental pollutants, especially endocrine disruptors and can be successfully used to identify and quantify multiple estrogens.