Comparison of triple quadrupole mass spectrometry and Orbitrap high‐resolution mass spectrometry in ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography for the determination of veterinary drugs in sewage: benefits and drawbacks

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) combined to ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography for the determination of glucocorticoids and polyether ionophores in sewage, in order to show the major benefits and drawbacks for each mass spectrometry analyser. Overall, HRMS measurements have enhanced performance in terms of confirmatory capabilities than MS/MS measurements. Moreover, similar limits of quantification, limits of detection, linear range and repeatability for glucocorticoids with both the MS/MS and HRMS methods were compared, but in the case of polyether ionophores, slightly better limits of detection and limits of quantification were obtained with the HRMS method because of the high sensitivity obtained when diagnostic ions are used for quantification instead of selected reaction monitoring transitions for these compounds. The two methods have been applied to the analysis of several influent and effluent sewage samples from sewage treatment plants located in the Tarragona region (Catalonia, Spain), showing an excellent correlation between the two methods.

Advanced LC–MS-based methods to study the co-occurrence and metabolization of multiple mycotoxins in cereals and cereal-based food

“…In contrast to the poor performance in full-scan mode, the use of MRM data acquisition provides a significant gain in both sensitivity and selectivity. The excellent sensitivity of QqQ analyzers when operating in SRM mode makes it possible to achieve low microgram per kilogram detection levels [54]. The average number of mycotoxins cited in the most recently published studies was about 30.…”

Current trends in environmental analysis of human metabolite conjugates of pharmaceuticals

“…The extrapolation to conjugates can be inferred from this data. Reproduced from [52] with permission.…”

Statistical procedures for the determination of linearity, detection limits and measurement uncertainty: A deeper look into SPE-LC-Orbitrap mass spectrometry of pharmaceuticals in wastewater

“…Both qualitative and quantitative information can be gained simultaneously from the accurate mass and extracted ion chromatograms, respectively, for a virtually unlimited number of analytes [1,2]. Moreover, quasi-comparable quantification performance characteristics and selectivity have been reached for the newest Orbitrap instruments providing a resolving power of more than 50 000 and for the state-of-the-art tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) [3][4][5]. In environmental sciences, there is increasing demand for multiresidue analytical methods, which allow to quantify trace levels of micropollutants often having a broad range of physical-chemical characteristics.…”