Dilute-and-shoot approach for determination of several biomarkers and pharmaceuticals in wastewater using nanoflow liquid chromatography - Orbitrap mass spectrometry.

Abstract

A new method for quantitative analysis of several biomarkers and pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater has been developed employing nanoflow liquid chromatography with Orbitrap mass spectrometry. An easy dilute-and-shoot approach has been used for sample preparation with a dilution factor of 5. Improved retention of ionic and highly polar compounds has been achieved by the addition of tetrabutylammonium bromide as an ion pair reagent into the final diluted sample. The new nanoflow liquid chromatography method has demonstrated low matrix effects (70 to 111%), high sensitivity in terms of limits of quantification (0.005 to 0.3 μg L-1 ), low injection volume (70 nL) and solvent consumption and the ability to analyse diverse polar and ionic analytes within one run using a single reversed-phase nanoflow liquid chromatography column. Wastewater samples (n = 116) from the wastewater treatment plants of different cities in Latvia were analysed using the developed method. The observed concentrations of biomarkers were in line with literature data. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.