Simultaneous passive sampling of hydrophilic and hydrophobic emerging organic contaminants in water

Passive sampling techniques have been considered robust tools for monitoring freely dissolved concentrations of contaminants in aquatic systems. However, few passive samplers are currently available for the simultaneous sampling of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic chemicals. In this study, we developed a novel passive sampler (a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance sorbent-embedded cellulose acetate membrane (HECAM)) for estimating the time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic organic contaminants in water. In our laboratorial controlled dynamic experiments, the accumulation results of thirty-seven target chemicals (including organophosphorus flame retardants, phenols, estrogens, organophosphorus pesticides, and triazine herbicides) with a wide polarity range (1.44 < log Kow < 9.49) in the HECAM followed first-order kinetics well, and the passive sampling parameters were estimated successfully. The estimated sampling rates for the target chemicals in the HECAM ranged from 0.14 to 6.90 L d−1 in the laboratory experiment, and the log Ksw (equilibrium partition coefficient between the sampler and water) values ranged from 2.75 to 6.00. The HECAM exhibited high sampling rate for moderately hydrophilic and moderately hydrophobic chemicals. The field validation study in an urban river resulted in the detection of four target chemicals (tris(chloroisopropyl)phosphate, tris(1,3-dichloroisopropyl)phosphate, prometryn, and 4-tert-octylphenol) by the HECAM at estimated TWA concentrations of 10.9–179.5 ng L−1, which were in agreement with the measured levels found in traditional grab samples by solid-phase extraction. In summary, both the laboratory tests and field deployment showed practicable results for the HECAM passive sampling, which suggests that it is an efficient approach for simultaneous monitoring of hydrophilic and hydrophobic organic contaminants in water.