Quantification of Trace Organophosphorus Pesticides in Environmental Water via Enrichment by Magnetic-Zirconia Nanocomposites and Online Extractive Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Anal Chem. 2020 Mar 3;92(5):4137-4145. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00304. Epub 2020 Feb 19.

Abstract

A total of 15 representative organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs), a class of water pollutants causing serious global concerns, have been sensitively quantified by internal extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (iEESI-MS) after enrichment with Fe3O4-ZrO2 innovatively synthesized in our lab by a one step coprecipitation method. For the premium enrichment, the amounts of Fe3O4-ZrO2, pH value, adsorption time, type and volume of desorption solvent, and shaking time of desorption were systematically optimized. Under optimized conditions, the proposed method provided low limits of detection (LODs) of 0.14-16.39 ng L-1 with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 8.7%. A wide linear response range of about 4 orders of magnitude was achieved with linear coefficients (R2) of 0.9921-0.9999 for all the analytes tested. The present method also provided good recoveries (85.4-105.9%) with acceptable precision (RSDs < 7.2%) in spiked environmental water samples. Furthermore, multiple analytes including dimethoate, omethoate, etc. were simultaneously detected in a single sample run, which was accomplished within 1 min, resulting in significantly improved analytical throughput for quantitative analysis of bulk amounts of samples. The experimental results demonstrated that Fe3O4-ZrO2-iEESI-MS provided advantages, including high sensitivity, high speed, and reasonable selectivity for the detection of OPPs, showing potential applications in environmental water sample analysis and environmental science.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Ferrosoferric Oxide / chemistry
  • Fresh Water / analysis
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Limit of Detection
  • Magnetics*
  • Nanocomposites / chemistry*
  • Organophosphorus Compounds / analysis
  • Organophosphorus Compounds / isolation & purification
  • Pesticides / analysis*
  • Pesticides / isolation & purification
  • Solid Phase Extraction
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / methods*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / isolation & purification
  • Zirconium / chemistry*

Substances

  • Organophosphorus Compounds
  • Pesticides
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Zirconium
  • zirconium oxide
  • Ferrosoferric Oxide