title: Quantitative analysis of perchlorate in extracts of whole fish homogenates by ion chromatography: comparison of suppressed conductivity detection and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.
abstract: The perchlorate anion (ClO4-) is an anthropogenic contaminant of increasing concern in water supplies, and has been shown to disrupt thyroid activity. Most perchlorate analyses are currently carried out by ion chromatography (IC) with suppressed conductivity detection (SCD). While this procedure has been demonstrated to provide acceptable performance for analysis of water samples, the determination of perchlorate in high-conductivity aqueous extracts of plant or animal material is not readily accomplished by IC-SCD unless lengthy cleanup protocols are applied. With the addition of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) to IC, it was hypothesized that the interference imposed by various ionic species could be significantly reduced without the need for purification; however, the analysis of perchlorate in relatively unpurified extracts of biologically derived homogenates by IC-ESI-MS has not previously been described in the literature. The research presented here represents a comparison of the capabilities of IC-SCD and IC-ESI-MS to detect perchlorate in reagent water and in crude extracts of perchlorate-exposed fish (threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus). ESI-MS was found to compare favorably to SCD for the detection of perchlorate in deionized water, and to exceed SCD performance in perchlorate analysis of fish-derived extracts.
authors.affiliation: Applied Science, Engineering, and Technology Laboratory, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Dr., Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Dodds
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kennish
authors.forename: Frank A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Von Hippel
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bernhardt
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hines
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002138:Calibration; D002845:Chromatography / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes; D010472:Perchlorates / Q000032:analysis*; D012015:Reference Standards; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017670:Sodium Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D014020:Tissue Extracts / Q000737:chemistry*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010472:Perchlorates; D017670:Sodium Compounds; D014020:Tissue Extracts; D014873:Water Pollutants; C031068:sodium perchlorate