title: Mass spectrometry for monitoring micropollutants in water.
abstract: Surface water reservoirs and aquifers are exposed to contamination by thousands of micropollutants from industrial, pharmaceutical, agricultural and natural origins. Most developed and developing countries implement a water-quality regulation programme to prevent contamination by such chemicals at illegal concentrations. Traditionally, analytical methods based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry or liquid chromatography with UV/fluorescence detection were used to monitor water quality. These methods require multistep sample preparation and several have low specificity. Nowadays, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry has become a key technique for environmental analysis, allowing the detection of a wide range of polar and nonvolatile compounds. The use of this method has increased the specificity and confidence of identification, while reducing sample preparation to a minimum.
authors.affiliation: Agentek Ltd, Atidim Scientific Park Building 2, Tel Aviv 61580, Israel. ranr@agentek.co.il
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosen
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical