Publication
Title
Analysis of drugs of abuse in wastewater by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry
Author
Abstract
The simultaneous analysis of nine drugs of abuse (DOAs) and their metabolites (amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, methadone, 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine, cocaine, benzoylecgonine, ecgonine methyl ester and 6-monoacetylmorphine) in wastewater based on hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was optimised and validated. For each analyte, the deuterated analogue was used for quantification. The separation by HILIC showed good performance for all compounds, especially for the hydrophilic compounds, which elute early (amphetamine-like stimulants) or show no retention (ecgonine methyl ester) in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Sample preparation based on solid-phase extraction was optimised by comparing Oasis HLB and Oasis MCX sorbents for various parameters such as sample pH, amount of sorbent bed and washing solvent. The method was validated for each compound by assessing the following parameters (following International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines): specificity, limit of quantification (LOQ), linearity, accuracy, precision, recovery and matrix effects. LOQs were 2 ng/L for 6-monoacetylmorphine, ecgonine methyl ester and amphetamine and 1 ng/L for the rest of the compounds, corresponding with the lowest point in the calibration curve. Except for 6-monoacetylmorphine, all compounds were detected from 1 to 819 ng/L in influent wastewater samples (n = 12) collected from 11 different wastewater treatment plants across Belgium. The presence of ecgonine methyl ester in wastewater could be demonstrated for the first time. In the future, the new HILICMS/MS method will be applied to assess the use of DOAs in Belgium using the sewage epidemiology approach.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry / Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker. - Heidelberg, 2002, currens
Publication
Heidelberg : Springer , 2009
ISSN
1618-2642 [print]
1618-2650 [online]
DOI
10.1007/S00216-009-3017-0
Volume/pages
395 :3 (2009) , p. 819-828
ISI
000269916200025
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 01.10.2009
Last edited 25.05.2022
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