Chlorinated humic acid samples analysis

Elemental Analysis. The elemental analyses are presented in Table IV. The atomic ratios H/C for all drinking water samples (nos. 1-10) were between 1.28 and 1.39. These values were comparable to humic acid derived from lake sediments. However, H/C ratios were much lower when compared to the chlorinated model humic substances (e.g., 1.04-1.08 for CFH-1 and CFH-2). Bromine was present in almost negligible quantities, whereas Cl varied between 0.3 and 2.4, and S varied between 0.9 and 2.7 in the drinking water organic matter. All fractions from drinking water showed similar elemental composition. However, they differed from the elemental composition of the CFH samples in all respects, especially in chlorine content. 

Very recently , we have carried out an intercomperison study of hquid-hquid extraction (LLE) and sorption on polyurethane foam (PUF) and Amberlite XAD-2 for the analysis of aliphatic, aromatic and chlorinated hydrocarbons dissolved in seawater. The application of these methods, sampling in parallel the same body of water, has shown significant differences in the recovery of higher molecular weight components in the complex mixtures of both aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. These are attributed to selective associations of these hydrophobic species with macromolecular organic matter such as fulvic and humic acids and to the effects of the dissolved organic molecules on adsorbent properties. 

The American Water Work Association (AWWA) and US ERA developed a number of methods for phenol determination . ERA Method 528 is dedicated to the determination of phenols in drinking water by solid-phase extraction and GC/MS analysis and is developed for 12 phenols, mainly chlorophenols, nitro- and methyl-substituted phenols . Unfortunately, users have to take into account that the recommended internal standard tetrachlorophenol can also be found in water samples and has to be used with precaution or, better, substituted with another compound. The same problem applies in the case of the recommended surrogate 2,4,6-tribromophenol, which cannot be used in the analysis of water in areas with high bromine ion content. (Some examples of tribromophenol formation by humic or fulvic acid chlorination was mentioned by Richardson °°.)... 

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