Trace analysis of artificial sweeteners in environmental waters, wastewater and river sediments by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

•LC–MS based methods for sweeteners analysis in water and sediments were developed.•Extraction recoveries were high for water and lower but consistent for sediments.•Optimized methods provided high sensitivity, precision and good linearity.•Aspartame and neotame were determined for the first time in river sediments.•The environmental relevance of detected artificial sweeteners was evaluated.