Determination of sulfonamide antibiotics in wastewater: A comparison of solid phase microextraction and solid phase extraction methods

• Published in: Journal of Chromatography A Vol. 1131; no. 1; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Balakrishnan, Vimal K., Terry, Ken A., Toito, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 27.10.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - analysis; Anti-Bacterial Agents - isolation & purification; Antibiotics; Applied sciences; Chemistry; Chromatographic methods and physical methods associated with chromatography; Chromatography, Liquid - methods; Exact sciences and technology; Liquid chromatography (LC); Mass Spectrometry - methods; Mass spectroscopy (MS); Molecular Structure; Other chromatographic methods; Other wastewaters; Pollution; PPCPs; Reproducibility of Results; Sewage - analysis; Sewage - chemistry; Solid phase extraction (SPE); Solid phase microextraction (SPME); Sulfadiazine - analysis; Sulfadiazine - isolation & purification; Sulfaguanidine - analysis; Sulfaguanidine - isolation & purification; Sulfamethazine - analysis; Sulfamethazine - isolation & purification; Sulfonamides; Sulfonamides - analysis; Sulfonamides - isolation & purification; Tandem LC–MS; Wastewater; Wastewaters; Water treatment and pollution; Solid phase microextraction (SPME); Antibiotics; Sulfonamides; Liquid chromatography (LC); Tandem LC–MS; Solid phase extraction (SPE); PPCPs; Wastewater; Mass spectroscopy (MS); Sulfanilamide derivatives; Solid phase extraction; Chemical analysis; Tandem LC-MS; HPLC chromatography; Waste water; Chemical enrichment; Sample preparation; Antiinfectious; Quantitative analysis; Trace analysis; Sulfonamide; Coupled method; Solid phase microextraction; Mass spectrometry MS/MS; Mass spectrometry; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0021-9673
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2006.07.011

In recent years, pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) have been detected in diverse environments (including groundwater, river water, and municipal wastewater). In order to evaluate their environmental impact, PPCPs must first be accurately determined. In this study, we focused on developing methods to accurately determine 10 sulfonamide antibiotics: sulfaguanidine, sulfacetamide, sulfadiazine, sulfathiazine, sulfapyridine, sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadimethoxine, and sulfasalazine. While sulfonamides can easily be determined in pure water, wastewater influent and effluent collected from sewage treatment plants in Burlington and Toronto (Ontario) were found to generate confounding matrix effects. In an effort to overcome these matrix effects, we developed a solid phase microextraction (SPME) method to determine sulfonamides. Of the five different fiber assemblies investigated, the carbowax/divinylbenzene (CW/DVB) fiber produced the optimal response to sulfonamides. The SPME method was further optimized for sorption time (20 min), solution salinity (10%, w/v, KCl), pH (4.5), and static desorption time (30 min). When compared to solid phase extraction (SPE) using MCX cartridges, we observed that despite having higher MDLs and poorer sensitivity, SPME possessed the advantage of speed and reduced solvent usage. Most importantly, in contrast to SPE, when we applied the SPME method to fortified wastewater samples, we were generally able to accurately determine (i.e., recover) those sulfonamides that were present. Therefore, we conclude that SPME is a viable method for overcoming matrix effects in environmental samples.