Emerging Contaminants in Water: Type and Testing

Water, water, everywhere, and every drop and water analysis is the first line of defense tested via a mass spectrometer. Such is the for both people and the planet against the dream of many a water analyst. Why such unwelcome consequences of pesticides, zeal? Because the number of potential plastics and other pollutants. Read on to find water contaminants is growing by the year, out how such contaminants are analyzed. Water Types Firstly, it’s worth distinguishing common water sources. There’s… Drinking water Groundwater The safety of which is perhaps The water sitting underground the most paramount. in saturated zones beneath the land surface. Wastewater Seawater The effluvium soup of industrial and While unlikely to be drank by agricultural activity. Many states and people, seawater should be kept nations require such outflow to be contaminant-free for the sake of tested and treated by the industrial ocean life, natural beauty spots and actors themselves prior to discharge the health of seafood consumers. in rivers and the sea. But secondary testing is still crucial to ensure regulatory compliance and safety. Contaminants of EMERGING CONCERN Some contaminants are as old as the soil they leach from. Others are more recent concerns. The USA’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) as chemicals that have not previously been detected in water or that are being detected at significantly different levels than expected. Such CECs include… Pharmaceuticals Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can fil ter into streams, seas and groundwater via human waste and municipal wastewater treatment out flows. In a 2022 global study, researchers found the most commonly detected pharmaceuticals in rivers included paracetamol, metformin, fexofen adine, sulfamethoxazole and metronidazole (both antimicrobials) and gabapentin. Personal care products The EPA considers personal care products CECs because little is known about their impact on the environment. Examples of such chemicals include hair and skin care products, baby care products, UV blocking creams and facial cleansers. Plasticizers These artificial compounds, such as phthalates and adipates, are added to products to increase plasticity. They’re recognized as endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which affect the body’s hormone systems, increasing the risks of cancer, diabetes and reproductive disorders. PFAS Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of synthetic chemicals used to waterproof consumer products like pans and packaging. They’re known as “forever chemicals” because, thanks to their almost unbreakable highly-fluorinated alkyl chain backbone, they don’t degrade naturally in the environment. This hardiness is particularly concerning considering the recent wave of research linking the chemicals to cancers, high cholesterol and low birth weights. Pesticides Pesticides are nothing new; along with heavy metals, they’re an enduring agricultural pollutant. But a new type of pesticide, nano-pesticides, could be an emerging contaminant of concern. These nano-pest-killers rely on small particle sizes and high surface areas, the consequences of which on the environment are under-researched. Plastics (micro) A well-publicized CEC at this point, microplastics can be accrued in the environment from such innocuous items as synthetic clothing and rubber tires. If caught in the solid sludge formed around wastewater filtration, the plastics can be incidentally captured and repurposed into fertilizer, thereby entering the agricultural food system. The dangers CECS POSE CECs have been linked to several harmful effects on human health, including endocrine disrup tion, growth and development toxicity, neurotox icity, immunotoxicity, carcinogenicity and terato genicity. Microplastics can also serve as carriers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, posing a risk of disease to humans and other animals. How to test FOR CECS CECs are as varied as the methods that test them, but certain techniques have become favored. When it comes to pharmaceuticals and per sonal care products, analysts are faced with the task of finding the contaminants in parts per million (µg/mL) or even parts per trillion (pg/mL) concentrations in water samples. To provide effective chromatographic separa tion at these minute levels, ultra-high perfor mance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) has risen as a viable method, as UHPLC provides optimal chromatographic separation while MS/MS provides optimal specificity Plasticizers and other endocrine-disrupting compounds are often tested via liquid chro matography- tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ MS/MS). The same technique is also regularly used when testing water samples for pesti cides and PFAS. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrosco py and FTIR microscopy have become stan dard methods for the detection and identifi cation of microplastics in all four water types and sample matrices. IR imaging, in particu lar, is an excellent analytical technique for the detection and identification of microplastics present in an unknown sample. Sponsored by: