Decreasing the Cost and Increasing the Efficiency of Analysis of Haloacetic Acids Using Hydrogen Carrier Gas and Alternative Columns

Drinking Water
Poster Presentation

Prepared by Y. Lin, R. Marfil-Vega, N. Lock
Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, 7102 Riverwood Drive, Columbia, MD, 21046, United States


Contact Information: yulin@shimadzu.com; 410-910-0968


ABSTRACT

Disinfection byproducts such as haloacetic acids (HAAs) are known carcinogens formed during water disinfection with chlorine. Five of them (HAA5: Dichloroacetic acid, monochloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid) are regulated under the Stage 2 DBPs Rule and monitored regularly. Under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 4, four additional HAAs (HAA9: Bromochloroacetic acid, bromodichloroacetic acid, chlorodibromoacetic acid and tribromoacetic acid) are being monitored to assess their occurrence during water treatment and determine whether regulation is needed to mitigate their risks. Hence, the analysis of HAAs (HAA5 or HAA9) will continue to be performed regularly in environmental labs to address current and future regulatory requirements. Due to the increasing cost of helium, many labs are seeking alternative and affordable carrier gases to meet the monitoring requirements for HAAs. Here, we demonstrate the performance of EPA method 552.3 for the analysis of HAA9 using Shimadzu GC-2030 with dual line micro ECD setup. Hydrogen carrier gas is tested here as carrier gas and an affordable alternative to helium for this method. We also tested Rtx-CLPesticides and Rtx-CLPesiticides2 columns as alternative to the traditional 1701 and 5 phase columns. Analysis using the alternative column set shortens the GC run time by over 10 min. In addition to the method performance, in this presentation, we will compare the benefits from the use of various carrier gases and columns to illustrate how to increase efficiency and operational costs for laboratories performing this analysis.