title: Molecular characterization of effluent organic matter identified by ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry.
abstract: Effluent dissolved organic matter (EfOM) collected from the secondary-treated wastewater of the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) located in Fountain Valley, California, USA was compared to natural organic matter collected from the Suwannee River (SRNOM), Florida using ultrahigh resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). Furthermore, the two different treatment processes at OCSD, activated sludge and trickling filter, were separately investigated. The blend of these two effluents was further evaluated after it had passed through the microfiltration process of the Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF) at Orange County Water District (OCWD). EfOM contained 872 different m/z peaks that were unambiguously assigned to exact molecular formulae containing a single sulfur atom and carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms (CHOS formulae). In contrast, the SRNOM sample only contained 152 CHOS formulae. The trend in CHO molecular compositions was opposite with 2500 CHO formulae assigned for SRNOM but only about 1000 for EfOM. The CHOS-derived mass peaks with highest abundances in EfOM could be attributed to surfactants such as linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS), their co-products dialkyl tetralin sulfonates (DATS) and their biodegraded metabolites such as sulfophenyl carboxylic acids (SPC). The differences between the treatments were found minor with greater differences between sampling dates than treatment methods used.
authors.affiliation: Urban Water Research Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. gonsior.michael@googlemail.com
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gonsior
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zwartjes
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Kenneth P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Linda Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Jeung
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rosso
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hertkorn
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schmitt-Kopplin
mesh_terms: D000476:Alkanesulfonates / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D002140:California; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005431:Florida; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006812:Humic Substances / Q000032:analysis; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000476:Alkanesulfonates; D017738:Alkanesulfonic Acids; D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D006812:Humic Substances; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C030641:alkylbenzyl sulfonic acid