Exploring the Behaviour of Emerging Contaminants in the Water Cycle using the Capabilities of High Resolution Mass Spectrometry.
To characterize a broad range of organic contaminants and their transformation products (TPs) as well as their loads, input pathways and fate in the water cycle, the Department of Environmental Chemistry (Uchem) at Eawag applies and develops high-performance liquid chromatography (LC) methods combined with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS). In this article, the background and state-of-the-art of LC-HRMS/MS for detection of i) known targets, ii) suspected compounds like TPs, and iii) unknown emerging compounds are introduced briefly. Examples for each approach are taken from recent research projects conducted within the department. These include the detection of trace organic contaminants and their TPs in wastewater, pesticides and their TPs in surface water, identification of new TPs in laboratory degradation studies and ozonation experiments and finally the screening for unknown compounds in the catchment of the river Rhine.
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland. juliane.hollender@eawag.ch.
Juliane
J
Hollender
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Marc
M
Bourgin
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Kathrin B
KB
Fenner
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Philipp
P
Longrée
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland; Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
Christa S
CS
Mcardell
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Christoph
C
Moschet
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Matthias
M
Ruff
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Emma L
EL
Schymanski
Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Überlandstrasse 133 CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Heinz P
HP
Singer
D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D010575:Pesticides; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry; D058438:Water Cycle; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D010575:Pesticides; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical