A Highly Sensitive MRM-Based Method for Detection and Quantitation of Seven Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in Surface Water

Introduction

The presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in drinking water has become a growing public concern due to their continuous input and persistence to the environment. They include many drug compounds from medicines and chemical ingredients from daily personal care products such as soaps, toothpastes and cosmetics. Many PPCPs act as endocrine disruptors and thus altering the normal functions of hormones resulting in reproductive defects and health issues [2]. The main sources of PPCPs in surface water are wastewaters from industries and domestic sewages. It has been reported that the levels of PPCPs in sewage treatment plants are in the range of low ng/L to μg/L. Risk assessments of PPCPs are evaluated, and regulations for control and management of PPCPs into surface water have been established in many countries. For monitoring PPCPs in surface water and wastewater, mass spectrometry methods on LC-Q-TOF and triple quadrupole LC/MS/MS are used widely for their high sensitivity and superior identification capability]. To ensure the sensitivity for detection of low ng/L level or parts per trillion (ppt), off-line or on-line pre- concentration of water samples is often required. In this Application News, a highly-sensitive LC/MS/MS method is described, which has been developed on a high sensitivity model of triple quadrupole LCMS-8060, aiming at direct determination of seven PPCPs of low ppt levels in surface water samples like treated water and reservoir water without pre-concentration.

April 4, 2017 GMT