Quantitative determination of 3-chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H)furanone (MX) in chlorinated drinking water using sample enrichment followed by liquid-liquid extraction and GC-MS

This study explores the means by which MX can be effectively extracted from chlorinated water 3-Chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone ( MX), a potent mutagen commonly found in chlorinated drinking water at concentrations of up to a few hundred ng/L, was quantitatively determined using sample enrichment followed by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), derivatization to methylated form, and analysis with GC-MS. A 4-L water sample was enriched to a concentration of 0.4 L using a vacuum rotary evaporator at 30 degrees C. MX in the water was extracted using ethyl acetate (100 mL x 2) as a solvent and MX in the extract was methylated with 10% H2SO4 in methanol. MX was recovered at a rate of 73.8 %, which was higher than that (38.1 %) for the resin adsorption method. The limit of quantification and repeatability (as relative standard deviation) were estimated to be 10 ng/L and 2.2%, respectively. This result suggested that LLE can be used for the determination of MX in chlorinated water as an alternative to more time-consuming resin adsorption method.