Evaluation of the Use of Performance Reference Compounds in an Oasis-HLB Adsorbent Based Passive Sampler for Improving Water Concentration Estimates of Polar Herbicides in Freshwater

Abstract

Passive samplers such as the Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler (POCIS) are useful tools for monitoring trace levels of polar organic chemicals in aquatic environments. The use of performance reference compounds (PRC) spiked into the POCIS adsorbent for in situ calibration may improve the semiquantitative nature of water concentration estimates based on this type of sampler. In this work, deuterium labeled atrazine-desisopropyl (DIA-d5) was chosen as PRC because of its relatively high fugacity from Oasis HLB (the POCIS adsorbent used) and our earlier evidence of its isotropic exchange. In situ calibration of POCIS spiked with DIA-d5 was performed, and the resulting time-weighted average concentration estimates were compared with similar values from an automatic sampler equipped with Oasis HLB cartridges. Before PRC correction, water concentration estimates based on POCIS data sampling rates from a laboratory calibration exposure were systematically lower than the reference concentrations obtained with the automatic sampler. Use of the DIA-d5 PRC data to correct POCIS sampling rates narrowed differences between corresponding values derived from the two methods. Application of PRCs for in situ calibration seems promising for improving POCIS-derived concentration estimates of polar pesticides. However, careful attention must be paid to the minimization of matrix effects when the quantification is performed by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS.

An interlaboratory study on passive sampling of emerging water pollutants

“…For sampling of polar pesticides the adsorbent was spiked with app. 4 µg/g of D 5 -desisopropylatrazine (D 5 -DIA) according to the procedure described by Mazzella et al [17] before sampler assembly and deployment. Mazzella et al [17] suggested applicability of D 5 -DIA as a suitable PRC for compensation of effects of environmental conditions (especially flow velocity) on performance of the applied variant of POCIS.…”

“…4 µg/g of D 5 -desisopropylatrazine (D 5 -DIA) according to the procedure described by Mazzella et al [17] before sampler assembly and deployment. Mazzella et al [17] suggested applicability of D 5 -DIA as a suitable PRC for compensation of effects of environmental conditions (especially flow velocity) on performance of the applied variant of POCIS. Following exposure at the organising laboratory, the adsorbent material from each sampler was transferred into a pre-weighted empty solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridge, dried and the sorbent mass was recorded.…”

“…Altogether, 30 laboratories from 13 different countries registered for the study, with the numbers of participants registered to analyse individual contaminant classes in brackets: polar pesticides (19), pharmaceuticals (17), steroid hormones (15), triclosan (8), bisphenol A (11), PFOA, PFOS (8), BDEs (16). Not all laboratories delivered results for all registered compound classes and several laboratories failed to report any data.…”

Uptake and release kinetics of 22 polar organic chemicals in the Chemcatcher passive sampler

“…Understanding the desorption process is important when considering the behaviour of a sampler after a peak concentration event [15]. Understanding the desorption process is also important when considering the use of performance reference compounds (PRCs) in passive samplers [16]. PRCs are usually isotope-labelled compounds that are pre-loaded into the sampler.…”

Passive sampling of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in aquatic environments

“…The use of a performance reference standard (PRC), which can eliminate the influence of environmental factors (already established for hydrophobic samplers), is still limited for hydrophilic compounds. Since Mazzella et al (2010) proposed deuterated deisopropyl-atrazine-d5 (DIA d5) as an appropriate PRC for polar herbicide sampling, other compounds have been tested Miege et al 2012;Vallejo et al 2013;Belles et al 2014). Several deuterated hormones and β-blockers are also suggested by Jacquet et al 2012.…”