Identification and quantification of chlorinated bisphenol A in wastewater from wastepaper recycling plants

Chlorinated derivatives of bisphenol A were detected in the final effluents of eight paper manufacturing plants in Shizuoka, Japan, where thermal paper and/or other printed paper is used as the raw material. Their amounts were determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) after treatment with N, O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide, and ranged from traces to 2.0 μg/l. They are likely produced by chlorination of bisphenol A, which was released into the effluents from the pulping process of wastepaper, during or after bleaching with chlorine.