High-throughput screening of PAHs and polar trace contaminants in water matrices by direct solid-phase microextraction coupled to a dielectric barrier discharge ionization source

摘要

Ambient mass spectrometry enables fast and direct analysis, requiring minimal or no sample preparation; these attributes have established it as the preferred technique for applications in numerous fields (e.g., biomedical, forensic, and environmental). Here we coupled an active capillary plasma ionization source based on a dielectric barrier discharge directly to solid-phase microextraction, achieving a quick (10 min per sample), green (virtually no samples preparation and thus no solvents involved), sensitive (LODs up to 3 pg mL(-1)), robust (RSD of 20%), and quantitative (LDR = 2 orders of magnitude) screening method. This study, moreover, shows that intrinsically poorer ionization efficiencies for low-polarity compounds (such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs), which precluded their ultra-trace detection, can be partially overcome by adding dopants and lowering the LODs into the pg mL(-1) range. Results also show that the presence of these dopants greatly affects the ionization mechanism, resulting in the preferential formation of radical cations versus protonated PAHs. As a proof of concept, this method was applied to the detection of organic microcontaminants in different water matrices (such as tap, ground, and treated wastewater). Common contaminants (e.g., DEET, benzotriazole, beta-estradiol) were tentatively detected and, if above the LOQ, quantified (i.e., DEET at 30 pg mL(-1)). These promising results evidence that this approach is interesting for quick (field) screening methods, and the newly increased efficiency for a larger polarity range additionally expands the range of possible applications. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.