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The development of Non-Targeted Analysis workflows for the use of chemical prioritization in environmental water samples
Citation:
Batt, A., S. Glassmeyer, E. Furlong, D. Kolpin, AND M. Mills. The development of Non-Targeted Analysis workflows for the use of chemical prioritization in environmental water samples. SETAC, Toronto, ON, CANADA, November 03 - 07, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
The environmental analysis of emerging contaminants has been an ongoing priority, due to their potential to cause undesirable ecological and human health effects. With many tens of thousands of industrial chemicals in use today, prioritizing which analytes or mixtures of analytes should be targeted for analysis has become increasingly difficult. We are developing non-targeted chemical screening tools to look for a much broader range of possible chemical contaminants present in environmental waters using advanced analytical chemistry techniques, as a first step to prioritize which chemical contaminants pose a risk to human health and aquatic life.
Description:
The environmental analysis of emerging contaminants has been an ongoing priority, due to their potential to cause undesirable ecological and human health effects. With many tens of thousands of industrial chemicals in use today, prioritizing which analytes or mixtures of analytes should be targeted for analysis has become increasingly difficult. We are developing non-targeted chemical screening tools to look for a much broader range of possible chemical contaminants present in environmental waters using liquid chromatography and time of flight mass spectrometry (Waters Xevo LC-QToF), as a first step to prioritize which chemical contaminants pose a risk to human health and aquatic life. A variety of instrument conditions are being used, including LC columns with different stationary phases (C18, HILIC), and multiple sample preparation methods, to capture a broader array of possible compounds. Ideal method conditions needed for data workflow, including blank subtraction, retention time monitoring, replicate injections, peak alignment, and sequence set up (with possible sample randomization) are also being investigated. These workflows are being applied to wastewater, surface water, and drinking water samples collected throughout a single watershed on multiple sampling seasons. The main goal of this work is to examine the occurrence, fate, and transport of chemical contaminants as they travel from a wastewater treatment plant to finished drinking water, so we may determine where in the water cycle chemicals are introduced, which chemicals resist treatments, and if any new chemicals are released in the environment as a result of those treatments.