Analysis of steroids in environmental water samples using solid-phase extraction and ion-trap gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

This paper describes an improved method for the extraction and determination of three steroids, oestrone, 17β-oestradiol, and the synthetic contraceptive steroid 17α-ethinyloestradiol in aqueous matrices. Samples of wastewater and environmental water were spiked with internal standards, comprising isotopically labelled analogues of the steroids to be determined. The samples were extracted using solid-phase extraction disks and the extracts were then derivatized to form tert.-butyldimethylsilyl derivatives. The derivatised steroids were determined in the final extracts by GC–MS or GC–MS–MS allowing an operational detection limit for each steroid in effluent samples of 1 ng l−1.