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Simultaneous determination of 41 multiclass organic pollutants in environmental waters by means of polyethersulfone microextraction followed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

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Abstract

A new procedure using polyethersulfone (PES) microextraction followed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) analysis was developed in this work for the simultaneous determination of 41 multiclass priority and emerging organic pollutants including herbicides, hormones, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals, among others, in seawater, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents, and estuary samples. The optimization of the analysis included two different chromatographic columns and different variables (polarity, fragmentor voltage, collision energy, and collision cell accelerator) of the mass spectrometer. In the case of PES extraction, ion strength of the water, pH, addition of EDTA, and the amount of the polymeric material were thoroughly investigated. The developed procedure was compared with a previously validated one based on a standard solid-phase extraction (SPE). In contrast to the SPE protocol, the PES method allowed a cost-efficient extraction of complex aqueous samples with lower matrix effect from 120 mL of water sample. Satisfactory and comparable apparent recovery values (80–119 and 70–131%) and method quantification limits (MQLs, 0.4–26 and 0.2–23 ng/L) were obtained for PES and SPE procedures, respectively, regardless of the matrix. Repeatability values lower than 27% were obtained. Finally, the developed methods were applied to the analysis of real samples from the Basque Country and irbesartan, valsartan, acesulfame, and sucralose were the analytes most often detected at the highest concentrations (51–1096 ng/L).

Forty-one multiclass pollutant determination in environmental waters by means of PES/SPE-LC–MS/MS

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project CTM2014-56628-C3-1-R and by the Basque Government through the project IT-742-13. L. Mijangos and H. Ziarrusta are grateful to the Basque Government and to the Spanish Ministry, respectively, for their pre-doctoral fellowships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), P.O. Box 644, 48080, Bilbao, Spain

    Leire Mijangos, Haizea Ziarrusta, Maitane Olivares, Olatz Zuloaga, Nestor Etxebarria & Ailette Prieto

  2. Research Centre for Experimental Marine Biology and Biotechnology (PIE), University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Areatza z/g, 48620, Plentzia, Spain

    Maitane Olivares, Olatz Zuloaga, Nestor Etxebarria & Ailette Prieto

  3. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Monika Möder

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  1. Leire Mijangos
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  2. Haizea Ziarrusta
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Mijangos, L., Ziarrusta, H., Olivares, M. et al. Simultaneous determination of 41 multiclass organic pollutants in environmental waters by means of polyethersulfone microextraction followed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 410, 615–632 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0763-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-017-0763-2

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