WEBINAR: Analysis of Chemical Contaminants in Drinking Water: Two techniques to analyze pesticides and disinfection products in drinking water in less time

Transporting smaller volumes of a sample, injecting less matrix, examining lower limits of detection and staying ahead of government regulations are just some of the challenges facing Environmental scientists today. In this webinar, we highlight some of the latest sample preparation and LC-MS technologies for the analysis of pesticides and disinfection products in our drinking water. Two EPA methods will be discussed – EPA methods 543 and 557.

Draft method EPA 543 includes using online pre-concentration/solid phase extraction and tandem mass spectrometry for the quantitation of organic pesticides in drinking water. This method highlights direct analysis of drinking water without pre-concentration using online extraction to increase sensitivity. Preliminary results using a high-sensitivity triple quadrupole mass spectrometer show detection limits ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 ng/L based on EPA LOD calculation criteria for a 1mL injection of drinking water.

EPA 557 discusses the analysis of possible formation of haloacetic acid (HAAs) in municipal water during the disinfection process. Because of the health concerns regarding human consumption of HAAs, the US EPA has published Method 557 for the quantitation of HAAs using Ion Chromatography coupled to Tandem Mass Spectrometry (IC-MS/MS). Previous techniques for the analysis of HAAs included derivitization of the HAAs and analysis by GC-MS. The IC-MS/MS method bypasses derivitization of the HAAs and allows for direct analysis of the drinking water samples without tedious and time consuming sample preparation.

Who should attend:

Environmental researchers including:
-    Academic researchers
-    Water treatment professionals
-    Ecological scientists
-    Public health researchers

Key learning objectives:

-    Advantages of online SPE for detection of low concentration compounds 
-    Learn how Ion Chromatography offers excellent separations and selectivity for HAAs
-    Learn how MS/MS offers specificity and sensitivity over single quadrupole methods