• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.534-539
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• 2002

We established an analytical method for the measurement of trace amounts of earthy/musty odorous geosmin (GSM) and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) in water using GC/MS. Water samples were extracted with n-hexane (liquid-liquid extraction, LLE) and the extracts were measured by GC/MS. The extraction yields of the two compounds were tested to be ($87{\pm}8$)% and ($78{\pm}8$)%, respectively. The limits of quantitation (LOQs) of the two compounds by this method were greatly improved to ~0.3 ng/L. The analytical methods were applied to analyze water samples from several rivers in Korea and waters after water treatment processes. The highest levels of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol in raw water from a river were measured to be ($4.2{\pm}0.4$) ng/L and ($44{\pm}4$) ng/L, respectively. The levels only slightly decreased to ($1.3{\pm}0.1$) ng/L and ($18{\pm}2$) ng/L even after water treatment, indicating that the odorous compounds were not properly removed by the treatment processes.