Rapid target screening and quantitative analysis of various environmental pollutants

Abstract

RationaleThe 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.MethodsTreatment 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).ResultsLDTD‐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.ConclusionsThe developed method was successfully evaluated for different environmental pollutants and radically reduced sample treatment and time requirements for analysis and sample preparation.