Analysis of polar organic pollutants in the Elbe river by flow injection analysis and high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

Water extracts from the Elbe river and from one of its tributaries have been analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and by high-performance liquid chromatography combined with ultraviolet (UV) and/or MS detection. After column chromatography or flow injection analysis (FIA) bypassing the analytical column, ionization for MS was performed by either atmospheric pressure chemical ionization or electrospray. Since the reduction of the pollutant concentrations relative to the concentration of matrix components in the water samples had continued compared to earlier investigations [H.Fr. Schröder, J. Chromatogr. A 712 (1995) 123-140], substance-group-specific methods were applied for the screening for certain compound groups. For this purpose tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) was used to characterize the substance groups, with the help of parent-ion and neutral-loss scans. Identification then followed by means of daughter-ion spectra, which were generated by collisionally induced dissociation (CID) using FIA-MS-MS. The limitations of mixture analysis in the case of isomeric compounds present in the extracts are demonstrated.