Non-targeted analysis by DLLME-GC-MS for the monitoring of pollutants in the Mar Menor lagoon

Non-targeted analysis for the monitoring of organic pollutants resulting from agricultural and industrial practices, plastics and pharmaceutical products of seawater from the Mar Menor lagoon (SE Spain) is proposed using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Initially, a home-made MS database including 118 environmental organic pollutants, whose presence in different ecosystems has already been reported, was created. The analytical method was applied for the analysis of 42 samples and a total of 18 pollutants were detected and identified. Samples were obtained from different sites around the Mar Menor in three sampling campaigns, enabling the assessment of impact of rain on the input of the detected chemicals and their distribution. In addition, this methodology was validated using a standard mixture containing 54 of the environmental pollutants included in the database, allowing the quantification of the 9 of the identified compounds (dibutyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, anthracene, 2-methylnaphthalene, hexachlorocyclopentadiene, bis(2-ethylhexyl) adipate and oleamide) with concentration between 3 and 271 mu g L-1.

Automated summary

A method for analyzing organic pollutants in seawater using DLLME and GC-MS was proposed, successfully detecting and identifying 18 pollutants, with validation of the method's accuracy using a standard mixture.