- Home
- Environmental Industrial
- Water & Soil
- Confirmation of contaminants in water Using SCIEX Triple Quad™ 5500+ QTRAP® Ready LC-MS/MS System and SCIEX OS-Q Software
Combining the latest QTRAP System with integrated software for high confidence ID confirmation
KC Hyland
SCIEX, USA
What: Testing labs are frequently confronted with the need for more confirmatory information when it comes to contaminant identification in environmental samples. In complex matrices, interferences may complicate interpretation of data resulting in false positives or reported residue levels to come into question. Combining speed and sensitivity with QTRAP® System and SCIEX OS-Q Software allows for the collection of full-scan MS/MS spectra for targeted anthropogenic pollutants in water samples. Those MS/MS data can be subsequently searched against SCIEX verified libraries for unambiguous qualitative confirmation of pesticide detection and ID.
How: The MS method was set up with a targeted list of PPCPs and pesticides comprising over 200 MRM transitions. IDA (Information Dependent Acquisition) criteria were defined such that Enhanced Product Ion (EPI) acquisition would be triggered when an MRM signal exceeded a threshold of 2000 cps. This type of data acquisition results in the collection of MS/MS spectral information in addition to the MRM signal (Figure 1). Samples of surface water were collected from the environment and analyzed. Data were processed in SCIEX OS-Q Software for quantitation by MRM and spectral identification by library matching. Figure 2 shows MS/MS spectra being used to confirm the identity of Acephate by both MS/MS and Retention Time. This additional stringency in identity confirmation could help protect against reporting false positives and provide additional, defensible confidence in the qualitative and quantitative results.
Samples of surface water were collected from the environment and analyzed. Data were processed in SCIEX OS-Q Software for quantitation by MRM and spectral identification by library matching. Figure 2 shows MS/MS spectra being used to confirm the identity of Acephate by both MS/MS and Retention Time. This additional stringency in identity confirmation could help protect against reporting false positives and provide additional, defensible confidence in the qualitative and quantitative results.