Simultaneous Determination of 4-Nitrotoluene and Benzophenone in Ground Water and Soil by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy

Benzophenone (BZP) and 4-nitrotoluene (4-NT) listed as endocrine disrupting chemicals are suspected to contaminate ground water sites and soil. Analytical method for simultaneous determination of the two chemicals in soil and ground water was developed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Water (100 ml) was extracted with hexane, and soil (10 g) was extracted with methanol and hexane. Recovery in water was >72% for BZP and 90-118% for 4-NT. Recovery for 4-NT and BZP in soil was 51-59% with coefficient variation of less than 19.5%. Calibration curves showed a good linearity with $r^2=0.997$. In water and soil collected at nation-wide sites, BZP was found at 5 sites among 43 water sites at the concentration of $14.87{\pm}3.83ng/100 ml$. No 4-NT was found. It is suggested that this method is appropriate to the simultaneous quantitation of 4-NT and BZP in ground water and soil samples.