A Simple Method for the Determination of Triazines from Seawater in Accordance with the Directive 2013/39/EU

Abstract

[Abstract] Since the Directive 2013/39/EU included terbutryn to the list of priority substances of all water bodies, a previous method based on dispersive liquid–liquid micro-extraction (DLLME) for the determination of triazines in seawater has been modified. The main change consisted on the use of tandem mass spectrometry instead of diode array as detection technique. Due to the higher sensitivity of mass detector, sample volume was reduced and extraction solvent volume was optimized. The optimum extraction conditions were 5 mL of sample, 50 µL of 1-octanol and an agitation step instead of disperser solvent. The obtained analytical recoveries (73%–101% with relative standard deviations below 4%) meeting the requirements. The limits of quantification (between 0.016 and 0.021 µg L−1) were more than 10 times lower than the limit set by the European Directive 2013/39/EU for terbutryn (0.34 µg L−1). The proposed method was applied to the determination of the target compounds in seawater samples from A Coruña (Galicia, NW of Spain).