Simultaneous Screening of Herbicide Degradation Byproducts in Water Treatment Plants using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Currently, herbicides are widely used in various combinations at many stages of cultivation and during postharvest storage. There are increasing concerns about the public health impact of herbicide degradation byproducts that may be present in water bodies used either as drinking water or for recreational purposes. This work investigated the sulfonic acid and oxanilic acid degradation products of metolachlor, alachlor, acetochlor, and propachlor in a variety of water bodies. The objective was to develop a fast, accurate, and easy method for quantitative analysis of herbicide degradation products using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry without solid phase extraction, but performing levels of detection lower than those obtained in previous studies with solid phase extraction. This research also screened 68 water samples, both untreated source water and treated water, from 34 water treatment plants in Missouri. Finally, it examined seasonal trends in levels of those degradation products by collecting and testing samples monthly. This highly sensitive method can analyze these degradation products to low ng/L levels. The method limit of quantification ranges from 0.04 to 0.05 ppb for each analyte; and quantitative analyses show a precision with RSDs of around 0.6% to 3% in treated water and 2% to 19% in untreated source water. Concentrations of alachlor ESA, acetochlor OA, metolachlor OA, and metolachlor ESA were detected from the Missouri River and the Mississippi River water bodies in summer time. Occurrences of these compounds in treated water samples are all lower than those in the untreated source water samples.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Second Department

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Sponsor(s)

Missouri University of Science and Technology. Environmental Research Center
Missouri. Department of Natural Resources

Keywords and Phrases

Herbicide; High Performance Liquid Chromatography; Methodology; Statistical Parameters; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Water Pollutant; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Limit Of Detection; Chemical; Herbicide Degradation Byproduct; Mass Spectrometry; Occurrence

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0021-8561

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2010 American Chemical Society (ACS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Apr 2010

Link to Full Text

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