Development of an Analytical Method of the Simultaneous Determination of 141 Agricultural Chemicals in Drinking Water by Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS/MS)

Abstract

We developed a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) analysis method for the simultaneous determination of 141 agricultural chemicals, the "Complimentary Items" in tap water in the Japanese Waterworks Act. Furthermore, we evaluated the validity of the analytical method on the basis of the results of the recovery tests performed with two set points, that is 1/10 of the desired value and 1/100 of the desired value of each agricultural chemical in the Japanese Waterworks Act. For 129 agricultural chemicals (when dechlorinated with sodium ascorbate) or 127 agricultural chemicals (when dechlorinated with sodium thiosulfate) , the quantification limits were lower than 1/10 of the desired values of each chemical, and the accuracy (recovery ratio) and repeatability also satisfied the criteria. For 120 agricultural chemicals, the quantification limits were lower than 1/100 of the desired values of each chemical, and the accuracy (recovery ratio) and repeatability satisfied the criteria of the Japanese guideline concerning water quality analysis. Therefore, we judged that our simultaneous analytical method developed in the present study is applicable to the analysis of 120 agricultural chemicals in drinking water. However, we should select the dichlorination treatment agent in accordance with the target chemicals.