Determination of diethylstilbestrol in seawater by molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography

An effective and highly selective molecularly imprinted material was prepared by suspension polymerization for the isolation and pre-concentration of synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) in seawater . The obtained MIPMs were proved to have more uniform size and porous structure, with maximum adsorption capacity of 8.43   mg   g −   1 almost two times more than NIPMs (4.43   mg   g −   1 ). The MIPMs showed no significant deterioration of the adsorption capacity after five rounds of regeneration. An off-line molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) method followed by HPLC–DAD was proposed for the detection of DES in seawater , and recoveries were satisfactorily higher than 77%. Four seawater samples in aquaculture area were analyzed and 0.61   ng   mL −   1 DES was detected in one sample. The result demonstrated that this method can be used for the rapid separation and clean up of trace residual of DES in seawater.