Untargeted analysis of a composite house dust sample has been performed as part of a collaborative effort to evaluate the progress in the field of suspect and nontarget screening and build an extensive database of organic indoor environment contaminants. Twenty-one participants reported results that were curated by the organizers of the collaborative trial. In total, nearly 2350 compounds were identified (18%) or tentatively identified (25% at confidence level 2 and 58% at confidence level 3), making the collaborative trial a success. However, a relatively small share (37%) of all compounds were reported by more than one participant, which shows that there is plenty of room for improvement in the field of suspect and nontarget screening. An even a smaller share (5%) of the total number of compounds were detected using both liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thus, the two MS techniques are highly complementary. Most of the compounds were detected using LC with electrospray ionization (ESI) MS and comprehensive 2D GC (GC×GC) with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and electron ionization (EI), respectively. Collectively, the three techniques accounted for more than 75% of the reported compounds. Glycols, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and various biogenic compounds dominated among the compounds reported by LC-MS participants, while hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon derivatives, and chlorinated paraffins and chlorinated biphenyls were primarily reported by GC-MS participants. Plastics additives, flavor and fragrances, and personal care products were reported by both LC-MS and GC-MS participants. It was concluded that the use of multiple analytical techniques was required for a comprehensive characterization of house dust contaminants. Further, several recommendations are given for improved suspect and nontarget screening of house dust and other indoor environment samples, including the use of open-source data processing tools. One of the tools allowed provisional identification of almost 500 compounds that had not been reported by participants. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00216-019-01615-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Because of large-scale production and use of an increasing diversity of chemicals in modern society, estuarine and coastal waters may be contaminated with numerous substances. Some of these compounds have the potential to affect microalgae at the base of the pelagic food chain. Therefore, we identified the main chemical stressors that negatively affect the effective photosystem II efficiency (ϕPSII) in marine microalgae of the Dutch estuarine and coastal waters. An enhanced effect-directed analysis (EDA) was carried out by combining reversed-phase ultra performance liquid chromatography fractionation of extracts from passive samplers, followed by effect assessment using the pulse amplitude modulation fluorometry assay and chemical analysis of biologically active fractions using high-resolution mass spectrometry. This study focuses on a novel microfractionation technique using 96-well plates to enhance throughput in EDA, structure elucidation, and the analytical and effect confirmation of the compounds that are identified. Although there are numerous unknown compounds present in estuarine and coastal waters, our EDA study shows that atrazine, diuron, irgarol, isoproturon, terbutryn, and terbutylazine are the main contributors to the observed effect on the ϕPSII of marine microalgae.

The exposure to and effects of estrogenic compounds in male breams from Dutch freshwater locations were investigated. Ovotestis was observed infrequently (maximum frequency 16%). However, plasma vitellogenin (VTG) concentration was elevated highly at some locations. Estrogenic activities in male bream plasma, liver, and in gastrointestinal content were measured in the estrogen-responsive chemical-activated luciferase gene expression (ER-CALUX) assay. Plasma concentrations of vitellogenin correlated very well with the estrogenic activities in gastrointestinal content. The ER-CALUX activity in gastrointestinal content thus could provide a biomarker for recent exposure to estrogenic compounds, and the gastrointestinal content was chosen as investigative matrix for the toxicity identification and evaluation ([TIE]; bioassay-directed fractionation) of estrogenic compounds in bream. The approach consisted of a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography fractionation of gastrointestinal content extract, directed by ER-CALUX and followed by gas chromatography analysis. The estrogenic hormones 17beta-estradiol and its metabolite estrone were identified as major contributors to the activity at all locations (except the reference location), independent of the presence or absence of a known source of estrogenic activity, such as a sewage treatment plant. Chemical screening showed the presence of other pollutants, such as a lower chlorinated dioxin and the disinfectants clorophene and triclosan. However, these compounds did not have high estrogenic potencies and their concentrations were not high enough to contribute significantly to the observed estrogenic activity.

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