Simultaneous Determination of Polar Organic Compounds in River Water by Online Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

We categorized 78 hazardous polar organic compounds containing pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), pesticides, and industrial chemicals potentially discharged into a river. We developed an automated online liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometric (LC-HRMS) method for the rapid simultaneous determination of 78 polar organic compounds. The method was validated in terms of calibration curve linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), accuracy, and precision. The LOD and LOQ were in the range of 0.03-47.6 ng/L and 0.1-151 ng/L respectively. Good accuracy and precision were also obtained. The concentrations of 78 compounds were determined in river water samples, and 60 compounds were detected. Caffeine was the most frequently observed PPCPs in river water. Key Words: Polar organic compounds, Automated online LC-HRMS, River water