Rapid target screening and quantitative analysis of various environmental pollutants

Abstract

Rationale: The presented analytical method demonstrates a straightforward approach for environmental applications based on laser diode thermal desorption (LDTD). The study aims to examine abilities to achieve environmentally relevant outcomes for different types of pollutants with a fast method following the green chemistry principle.

Methods: Treatment of environmentally relevant sample matrix (river water) was limited to filtration with a cellulose filter. Samples fortified with analytes were spotted in a LazWell plate and dried before analysis. Samples thermally desorbed using LDTD were detected with Q Exactive hybrid high-resolution mass spectrometer operation in full-scan data-dependent acquisition mode (LDTD-FullMS-dd-MS/MS).

Results: LDTD-FullMS-dd-MS/MS exhibits the lowest quantification limits for anatoxin-A, atrazine, caffeine, methamphetamine, methylbenzotriazole, paracetamol, perfluorobutanoic acid, perfluorohexanoic acid, and perfluorooctanoic acid of between 0.10 and 1.0 ng mL^-1 in the environmentally relevant sample matrix.

Conclusions: The developed method was successfully evaluated for different environmental pollutants and radically reduced sample treatment and time requirements for analysis and sample preparation.