This document specifies methods for the determination of five selected estrogens in whole water samples listed in Table 1 (see Clause 4). The methods are based on solid-phase extraction (SPE; disk or cartridge) followed by liquid or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detection (tandem mass spectrometry or high resolution mass spectrometry). Depending on the sample preparation chosen, the sample preparation can be applicable to the analysis of selected estrogens in drinking water, groundwater and surface water containing suspended particulate matter (SPM) up to 500 mg/l, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content up to 14 mg/l (whole water samples).
The lower application range defined as verified limit of quantification can vary depending on the methods, the sensitivity of the equipment used and the matrix of the sample. The range is 0,006 ng/l to 1 ng/l for 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and 0,038 ng/l to 1 ng/l for the other estrogens in drinking water, ground water and surface water. The upper limit of the working range is approximately tens of nanograms per litre.
For application that targets the measurements of very low level concentrations (between the lowest LOQ and 0,1 ng/l), every single step of the procedure becomes critical.
The methods can be used to determine further estrogens or hormones in other types of water, for example treated wastewater, if accuracy has been tested and verified for each case as well as storage conditions of both samples and reference solutions have been validated.
