Chlorophenols in Tigris River and Drinking Water of Baghdad, Iraq Khalid Waleed S. Al-Janabi • Fatin Nafea Alazawi • M. Ibrahim Mohammed • Abdul Amir H. Kadhum • Abu Bakar Mohamad Received: 3 February 2011 / Accepted: 13 May 2011 / Published online: 26 May 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract A study was conducted on a stretch of Tigris river crossing Baghdad city to determine the concentration of some chlorophenols pollutants. Aqueous samples were preliminary enriched about 500 times and the chlorophe- nols have determined using high performance liquid chromatography HPLC. Limits of detection LOD were (0.007–0.012 mg L -1 ), relative standard deviations RSD% were 2.4%–5.59% and relative recoveries were 51.06%– 104.07%. The existence of chlorophenols in Tigris river was in the range 0.023–4.596 mg L -1 . The developed method suggested in this study can be applied for routine analysis and monitoring of chlorinated phenols in envi- ronmental aqueous samples. Keywords Chlorophenol  Tigris  HPLC  Iraq  SPE Abbreviations 2CP 2-Chlorophenol 24DCP 2,4-Dichlorophenol 246TCP 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol 2346TeCP 2,3,4,6-Tetrachlorophenol PCP Pentachlorophenol HPLC High performance liquid chromatography DAD Diode-array detector UV Ultra violet ALS Autosampler SPE Solid phase extraction D.I. Deionized RSD% Relative standard deviation The Tigris is the biggest river in Iraq and the main source of drinking water for Baghdad, which is the largest city in the country and the second largest city in the Arab world with a population estimated by 7.5 million (Burnham et al. 2006). Nevertheless there are no enough reliable studies, data or statistics available internationally about Tigris river (Kavvas et al. 2011) and its water quality while traversing Iraq, especially after the year 2003 is deteriorated. Any pollution of Tigris river may cause a direct pollution to Euphrates river and the related water sources since both rivers connected through Al Tharthar Lake (Rahi and Halihan 2010). Water pollution is anything that degrades water quality and adversely affects living organisms or makes water unsuitable for usage (Cunningham et al. 2007). As a by- product of many industries, phenolic compounds were disposed in river water contaminating it and the environ- ment. Chlorinated phenols are well known for their toxicity and carcinogenicity (Goodman 2001). There are many international standards as well as legal requirements and proceedings for drinking water supply (Schaefer 2008; de Vet et al. 2009). A small quantity of wastewater if in contact with groundwater may cause significant pollution to drinking water sources. Chlorophenols enter the nutrient system through contaminated drinking water and crops (DouAbul et al. 1988). The problem is more serious where K. W. S. Al-Janabi (&)  F. N. Alazawi Chemistry Department, College of Education, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq e-mail: khalid.janabi@gmail.com M. Ibrahim Mohammed Chemical Engineering Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq A. A. H. Kadhum  A. B. Mohamad Department of Chemical and process Engineering, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 123 Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2011) 87:106–112 DOI 10.1007/s00128-011-0315-y