High-throughput evaluation of organic contaminant removal efficiency in a wastewater treatment plant using direct injection UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS

Abstract

The removal efficiency (RE) of organic contaminants in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is a major determinant of the environmental impact of these contaminants. However, RE data are available for only a few chemicals due to the time and cost required for conventional target analysis. In the present study, we applied non-target screening analysis to evaluate the RE of polar contaminants, by analyzing influent and effluent samples from a Swedish WWTP with direct injection UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS. Matrix effects were evaluated by spiking the samples with isotope-labeled standards of 40 polar contaminants. For 85% of the compounds, the matrix effects in the influent and effluent were not significantly different. Approximately 10 000 compounds were detected in the wastewater, of which 319 were identified by using the online database mzCloud. Level 1 identification confidence was achieved for 31 compounds for which we had reference standards, and level 2 was achieved for the remainder. RE was calculated from the ratio of the peak areas in the influent and the effluent from the non-target analysis. Good agreement was found with RE determined from the target analysis of the target compounds. The method generated reliable estimates of RE for large numbers of contaminants with comparatively low effort and is foreseen to be particularly useful in applications where information on a large number of chemicals is needed.

Comparing non-targeted chemical persistence assessed using an unspiked OECD 309 test to field measurements

“…the inuent : effluent peak area ratios were close to 1. 10 As shown in Fig. 1, the median outow : inow peak area ratios were 1.0 AE 0.10 for all the selected isotope-labeled standards except for glimepiride-d 5 (1.2), indicating that there was also no signicant difference in the matrix effects for a wide range of analytes between Södra Bergundasjön (inow) and Norra Bergundasjön (outow) lake water.…”

“…All high-resolution MS data were processed using Compound Discoverer 3.0 following the workow from Li et al (2018), 10 consisting of peak picking, retention time alignment, unknown detection, isotope/adduct peak grouping, compound grouping, blank subtraction, and library searching using the online database mzCloud. Relevant parameters are provided in the ESI.…”

“…The validity and reliability of the non-target screening workow has been demonstrated previously in a study where all spiked standards (42 native and 40 isotope-labeled organic contaminants) were unambiguously identied, supported by the retention time and MS/MS spectra matching with the corresponding reference standards. 10 The performance of the workow within the context of the present study was further evaluated by testing for the identication of 12 pharmaceuticals (acesulfame, atenolol, caffeine, carbamazepine, gabapentin, hydrochlorothiazide, metoprolol, oxazepam, paracetamol, tramadol, valsartan, and venlafaxine) used for separate spiked bottle tests conducted in parallel. 6 The false negative identication number was zero; all 12 chemicals were identied in both of the duplicated bottles.…”

Determination of polar organic micropollutants in surface and pore water by high-resolution sampling-direct injection-ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

“…Considering the widespread use of these compounds their absence suggests efficient removal by the WWTP, which is supported by literature data. [49][50][51] Naproxen was detected in SW only which could be due to efficient bacterial degradation in the HZ. 52 Elevated concentrations of the TPs guanylurea, O-desmethylvenlafaxine and valsartan acid were also observed, in some cases exceeding their respective parent compound concentrations by over an order of magnitude.…”

Hematite and Magnetite Nanostructures for Green and Sustainable Energy Harnessing and Environmental Pollution Control: A Review

“…Iron-based sensors are used for this purpose. − A study revealed that, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, azo dyes (reactive yellow and reactive black) are degraded by ferrous oxalate reducing agent with surface-modified magnetite NPs . This degradation goes through Fenton’s reaction mechanism, in which hydrogen peroxide is reduced by a ferrous oxalate and produces hydroxyl (OH – ) free radicals through contaminated degradative organic contaminants via breaking of a covalent bond.…”