Quantitative Analysis of Residual Artificial Sweeteners in Surface Water by Highly Sensitive LC/MS/MS Method

Introduction

Artificial sweeteners, being low caloric sugar substitutes, are widely used in food and beverages for decades. Researches on environmental occurrence and eco- toxicological effects of artificial sweeteners have increased in recent years. Artificial sweeteners are found in surface waters and wastewaters at levels from ng/L to µg/L, which are classified as new emerging environmental contaminants. The artificial sweeteners which have been studied most in this field are acesulfame (ACE), cyclamate (CYC), saccharin (SAC) and sucralose (SUC). LC/MS/MS techniques have been used in these studies. However, pre-concentration of water sample is often required because of the needs for detection of trace levels of the compounds. A LC/MS/MS method was developed previously on LCMS-8040 for identification and quantification of ten artificial sweeteners in beverages. In this Application News, a new LC/MS/MS method on LCMS-8060 is described, aiming at achieving ultra high sensitivity for direct quantitation of above-mentioned five artificial sweeteners in surface waters and drinking waters.

April 4, 2017 GMT