GC/MS Identification of Organic Pollutants in the Caroni River, Trinidad

Abstract

Water samples from the Caroni River, Trinidad and other rivers which flow into the Caroni River were qualitatively analyzed for trace organic contaminants by procedures based on XAD extraction followed by GC/MS [gas chromatography/mass spectrometry] analysis. Pesticides, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic hydrocarbons, phenols and phthalate esters were the main groups of compounds found. Many contaminants present in these water samples were known industrial pollutants, and several were found in waste waters examined by other workers, which suggested that the factories of an industrial complex located upstream of the Caroni/Arena Water Treatment Plant may have been the major source of the pollutants. Some compounds identified in the water samples had not been previously reported.