Simultaneous and on-line detection of organic and heavy metal components in water using a novel nebulization-assisted injection plasma ionization triple quadruple mass spectrometry instrument

Gaosheng Zhao; Maolin Yang; Tingting Zhang; Bin Jia; Li Xu; Ping Cheng

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2024.342531

Simultaneous and on-line detection of organic and heavy metal components in water using a novel nebulization-assisted injection plasma ionization triple quadruple mass spectrometry instrument

Anal Chim Acta. 2024 May 22:1304:342531. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2024.342531. Epub 2024 Mar 28.

Authors

Gaosheng Zhao¹, Maolin Yang¹, Tingting Zhang², Bin Jia³, Li Xu¹, Ping Cheng⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China.
² Aerospace System Engineering Shanghai, Shanghai, 201109, China.
³ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China. Electronic address: jiabin_bj@shu.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China. Electronic address: Pingcheng@shu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38637047
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2024.342531

Abstract

Background: The global release of organic and heavy metal components into natural water bodies is a major concern for the environment and human health. The assessment of water quality relies on analyzing organic and heavy metal components qualitatively and quantitatively. Real-time identification of organic and metal components in water systems requires different analytical techniques due to varying measurement requirements. Thus, on-line detecting both organic compounds and heavy metals in ambient water systems simultaneously using a single instrumentation setup presents a significant challenge.

Results: In this study, an analytical technique of nebulization-assisted injection plasma ionization mass spectrometry (NI-PIMS) was developed. This novel method enables the simultaneous detection of heavy metals and organic compounds in water system with high sensitivity, which has been demonstrated by the limit of quantification (LOQ) values below 1.0 μg/L for the three sterols (Enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and clenbuterol) and three heavy metals (Pb, Ba, and Cd). Moreover, the method was successfully applied to rapidly analyze real water samples from urban and rural areas in China. The analytical results are available in less than 0.5 min, and only a few microliters of sample are required for each analysis.

Significance and novelty: As far as we know, this is the first report of on-line simultaneous analysis of organic compounds and heavy metals in a water system using a single mass spectrometry instrument. Compared to traditional methods, NI-PIMS demonstrates higher efficiency, sensitivity, no or lower sample preparation, and less sample consumption. The advancement and widespread use of this technology are expected to enhance the effectiveness of mass spectrometers, broaden the applications, and play an important role in complex sample analysis in fields such as atmospheric science, environmental science, and earth science.

Keywords: Ambient plasma source tandem mass spectrometry; High sensitivity; Nebulization-assisted injection; On-line detection; Organic metallic components detection simultaneously; Water analysis.