Novel monitoring concepts to acquire new water quality knowledge.
Two novel water quality monitoring concepts were developed: the HPLC-fingerprint for the monitoring of yet unidentified pollutants and the HPLC-Toxprint for the recognition of (unknown) toxic or genotoxic compounds. The paper describes applications of both concepts. The HPLC-fingerprint is used for the evaluation of the overall water quality in addition to the monitoring of individual pollutants. Based on their occurrence (frequency, concentration, location) a listing of unknown priority pollutants is set up. Participating waterworks monitor for these compounds using a dedicated HPLC-DAD library that contains the required compound data (UV-absorbance spectrum, retention time index). In five years of experience with this concept, the HPLC-fingerprint was also found very suitable for the retrieval of new priority pollutants in existing HPLC-fingerprint databases, providing historic data on these new compounds. The HPLC-fingerprint concept was also used as an Early Warning System for accidental spills or sabotage. The HPLC-Toxprint was successfully applied in identifying genotoxicity (in the umu-test) in various waste water samples. By the application of LC-MS/MS genotoxicity could be assigned to acridine-derivatives in one of these wastewaters. To enable the evaluation of drinking water resources, the sensitivity of the HPLC-Toxprint was improved, now allowing the detection of pollutants with a 10% genotoxic potential as compared to 2-aminoanthracene (the positive control compound) at concentrations as low as 0.1 microg/l.
Noij
Th H M
TH
Kiwa Water Research, PO Box 1072,3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands. theo.noij@kiwa.nl
Bobeldijk
I
I
D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005544:Forecasting; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D011786:Quality Control; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*
D014873:Water Pollutants