TY - JOUR
T1 - High-throughput multi-residue quantification of contaminants of emerging concern in wastewaters enabled using direct injection liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
AU - Ng, Keng Tiong
AU - Rapp-Wright, Helena
AU - Egli, Melanie
AU - Hartmann, Alicia
AU - Steele, Joshua C.
AU - Sosa-Hernández, Juan Eduardo
AU - Melchor-Martínez, Elda M.
AU - Jacobs, Matthew
AU - White, Blánaid
AU - Regan, Fiona
AU - Parra-Saldivar, Roberto
AU - Couchman, Lewis
AU - Halden, Rolf U.
AU - Barron, Leon P.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council ( BB/P005187/1 ), the Global Consortium for Sustainability Outcomes (GCSO) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland (funded under the EPA Research Programme 2014-2020, Ref. 2017-W-MS). The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment . Thanks are extended to staff at Thames Water Utilities Ltd. and Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey, Laboratorio Central de Calidad de Aguas and Dulces Nombres WWTP for access and collection of wastewater samples. Thanks are also extended to Anthony Sullivan, Chris Titman and Neil Loftus from Shimadzu UK Ltd. for their support on the LC–MS/MS instrument.
Funding Information:
This work was funded from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P005187/1), the Global Consortium for Sustainability Outcomes (GCSO) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland (funded under the EPA Research Programme 2014-2020, Ref. 2017-W-MS). The EPA Research Programme is a Government of Ireland initiative funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. Thanks are extended to staff at Thames Water Utilities Ltd. and Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey, Laboratorio Central de Calidad de Aguas and Dulces Nombres WWTP for access and collection of wastewater samples. Thanks are also extended to Anthony Sullivan, Chris Titman and Neil Loftus from Shimadzu UK Ltd. for their support on the LC–MS/MS instrument.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2020/11/5
Y1 - 2020/11/5
N2 - A rapid quantitative method for 135 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in untreated wastewater enabled with direct injection liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry is presented. All compounds were analysed within 5 min on a short biphenyl cartridge using only 10 μL of filtered sample per injection. Up to 76 compounds were monitored simultaneously during the gradient (including mostly two transitions per compound and stable isotope-labelled analogues) while yielding >10 data points per peak. Evaluation of seven solid phase extraction sorbents showed no advantage for wastewater matrix removal. Excellent linearity, range, accuracy and precision was achieved for most compounds. Matrix effects were <11 % and detection limits were <30 ng L−1 on average. Application to untreated wastewater samples from three wastewater treatment works in the UK, USA and Mexico, enabled quantification of 56 compounds. Banned and EU ‘watch-list’ substances are critically discussed, including pesticides, macrolide antibiotics, diclofenac, illicit drugs as well as multiple pharmaceuticals and biocides. This high-throughput method sets a new standard for the speedy and confident determination of over a hundred CECs in wastewater at the part-per-trillion level, as demonstrated by performing over 260 injections per day.
AB - A rapid quantitative method for 135 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in untreated wastewater enabled with direct injection liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry is presented. All compounds were analysed within 5 min on a short biphenyl cartridge using only 10 μL of filtered sample per injection. Up to 76 compounds were monitored simultaneously during the gradient (including mostly two transitions per compound and stable isotope-labelled analogues) while yielding >10 data points per peak. Evaluation of seven solid phase extraction sorbents showed no advantage for wastewater matrix removal. Excellent linearity, range, accuracy and precision was achieved for most compounds. Matrix effects were <11 % and detection limits were <30 ng L−1 on average. Application to untreated wastewater samples from three wastewater treatment works in the UK, USA and Mexico, enabled quantification of 56 compounds. Banned and EU ‘watch-list’ substances are critically discussed, including pesticides, macrolide antibiotics, diclofenac, illicit drugs as well as multiple pharmaceuticals and biocides. This high-throughput method sets a new standard for the speedy and confident determination of over a hundred CECs in wastewater at the part-per-trillion level, as demonstrated by performing over 260 injections per day.
KW - Direct injection LC–MS/MS
KW - Illicit drugs
KW - Pesticides
KW - Pharmaceuticals
KW - Wastewater
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122933
DO - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122933
M3 - Article
C2 - 32768824
AN - SCOPUS:85085932949
SN - 0304-3894
VL - 398
JO - Journal of Hazardous Materials
JF - Journal of Hazardous Materials
M1 - 122933
ER -