Identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction

BackgroundWith the progression of industrialization, an increasing number of emerging contaminants are entering aquatic environments, posing significant threats to the safety of drinking water. Therefore, establishing a system for identifying unknown hazardous factors and implementing safety warning...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zixin QIAN, Yuhang CHEN, Chao FENG, Yuanjie LIN, Qian XU, Ziwei LIANG, Xinyu WANG, Dasheng LU, Ping XIAO, Zhijun ZHOU
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Editorial Committee of Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine 2025-07-01
Series:环境与职业医学
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.jeom.org/article/cn/10.11836/JEOM24475
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849239276305252352
author Zixin QIAN
Yuhang CHEN
Chao FENG
Yuanjie LIN
Qian XU
Ziwei LIANG
Xinyu WANG
Dasheng LU
Ping XIAO
Zhijun ZHOU
author_facet Zixin QIAN
Yuhang CHEN
Chao FENG
Yuanjie LIN
Qian XU
Ziwei LIANG
Xinyu WANG
Dasheng LU
Ping XIAO
Zhijun ZHOU
author_sort Zixin QIAN
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundWith the progression of industrialization, an increasing number of emerging contaminants are entering aquatic environments, posing significant threats to the safety of drinking water. Therefore, establishing a system for identifying unknown hazardous factors and implementing safety warning mechanisms for drinking water is of paramount importance. Among these efforts, non-target screening plays a critical role, but its effectiveness is largely constrained by the scope of coverage of sample pre-treatment methods.ObjectiveTo integrate modern chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques with advanced data mining methods to develop a non-discriminatory sample pre-treatment method for comprehensive enrichment of unknown contaminants in drinking water, laying a technical foundation for the discovery and identification of unknown organic hazardous factors in drinking water.MethodsA non-discriminatory pre-treatment method based on supramolecular and solid-phase extraction was developed. The final target compounds including 333 pesticides, 194 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and 59 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were used for optimizing the pre-treatment method, confirming its coverage. The impacts of different eluents on the absolute recovery rates of target compounds were compared to select the conditions with the highest recovery for sample pre-treatment. The effects of different supramolecular solvents and salt concentrations on target compound recovery were also evaluated to determine the most suitable solvent and salt concentration.ResultsThe solid-phase extraction elution solvents, supramolecular extraction solvents, and salt concentrations were optimized based on the target compound recovery rates. The optimal recovery conditions were achieved using 2 mL methanol, 2 mL methanol (containing 1% formic acid), 2 mL ethyl acetate, 2 mL dichloromethane, hexanediol supramolecular solvent, and 426 mg salt. The detection method developed based on these conditions showed a good linear relationship for all target compounds in the range of 0.1-100.0 ng·mL−1, with R² > 0.99. The method’s limit of detection ranged from 0.01 ng−1 to 0.95 ng−1, and 95% of target compounds were recovered in the range of 20%-120%, with relative standard deviation (RSD) less than 30%, indicating good precision.ConclusionThe combined pre-treatment method of solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction can effectively enrich contaminants in drinking water across low, medium, and high polarities, enabling broad-spectrum enrichment of diverse trace contaminants in drinking water. It provides technical support for broad-spectrum, high-throughput screening and identification of organic pollutants in drinking water, and also serves as a reference for establishing urban drinking water public safety warning systems.
format Article
id doaj-art-0c6dfa3d1fdd4c46a814b486dd94a131
institution Kabale University
issn 2095-9982
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Editorial Committee of Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine
record_format Article
series 环境与职业医学
spelling doaj-art-0c6dfa3d1fdd4c46a814b486dd94a1312025-08-20T04:01:03ZengEditorial Committee of Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine环境与职业医学2095-99822025-07-0142785486110.11836/JEOM2447524475Identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extractionZixin QIAN0Yuhang CHEN1Chao FENG2Yuanjie LIN3Qian XU4Ziwei LIANG5Xinyu WANG6Dasheng LU7Ping XIAO8Zhijun ZHOU9School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, ChinaShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Chemical Toxicity and Safety AssessmentShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Chemical Toxicity and Safety AssessmentShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Chemical Toxicity and Safety AssessmentShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Chemical Toxicity and Safety AssessmentShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Chemical Toxicity and Safety AssessmentShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Chemical Toxicity and Safety AssessmentShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Chemical Toxicity and Safety AssessmentShanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Chemical Toxicity and Safety AssessmentSchool of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, ChinaBackgroundWith the progression of industrialization, an increasing number of emerging contaminants are entering aquatic environments, posing significant threats to the safety of drinking water. Therefore, establishing a system for identifying unknown hazardous factors and implementing safety warning mechanisms for drinking water is of paramount importance. Among these efforts, non-target screening plays a critical role, but its effectiveness is largely constrained by the scope of coverage of sample pre-treatment methods.ObjectiveTo integrate modern chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques with advanced data mining methods to develop a non-discriminatory sample pre-treatment method for comprehensive enrichment of unknown contaminants in drinking water, laying a technical foundation for the discovery and identification of unknown organic hazardous factors in drinking water.MethodsA non-discriminatory pre-treatment method based on supramolecular and solid-phase extraction was developed. The final target compounds including 333 pesticides, 194 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and 59 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) were used for optimizing the pre-treatment method, confirming its coverage. The impacts of different eluents on the absolute recovery rates of target compounds were compared to select the conditions with the highest recovery for sample pre-treatment. The effects of different supramolecular solvents and salt concentrations on target compound recovery were also evaluated to determine the most suitable solvent and salt concentration.ResultsThe solid-phase extraction elution solvents, supramolecular extraction solvents, and salt concentrations were optimized based on the target compound recovery rates. The optimal recovery conditions were achieved using 2 mL methanol, 2 mL methanol (containing 1% formic acid), 2 mL ethyl acetate, 2 mL dichloromethane, hexanediol supramolecular solvent, and 426 mg salt. The detection method developed based on these conditions showed a good linear relationship for all target compounds in the range of 0.1-100.0 ng·mL−1, with R² > 0.99. The method’s limit of detection ranged from 0.01 ng−1 to 0.95 ng−1, and 95% of target compounds were recovered in the range of 20%-120%, with relative standard deviation (RSD) less than 30%, indicating good precision.ConclusionThe combined pre-treatment method of solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction can effectively enrich contaminants in drinking water across low, medium, and high polarities, enabling broad-spectrum enrichment of diverse trace contaminants in drinking water. It provides technical support for broad-spectrum, high-throughput screening and identification of organic pollutants in drinking water, and also serves as a reference for establishing urban drinking water public safety warning systems.http://www.jeom.org/article/cn/10.11836/JEOM24475drinking watercontaminantscreeningpre-treatment methodsolid-phase extractionsupramolecular solvent
spellingShingle Zixin QIAN
Yuhang CHEN
Chao FENG
Yuanjie LIN
Qian XU
Ziwei LIANG
Xinyu WANG
Dasheng LU
Ping XIAO
Zhijun ZHOU
Identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction
环境与职业医学
drinking water
contaminant
screening
pre-treatment method
solid-phase extraction
supramolecular solvent
title Identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction
title_full Identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction
title_fullStr Identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction
title_full_unstemmed Identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction
title_short Identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid-phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction
title_sort identification of unknown pollutants in drinking water based on solid phase extraction and supramolecular solvent extraction
topic drinking water
contaminant
screening
pre-treatment method
solid-phase extraction
supramolecular solvent
url http://www.jeom.org/article/cn/10.11836/JEOM24475
work_keys_str_mv AT zixinqian identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT yuhangchen identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT chaofeng identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT yuanjielin identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT qianxu identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT ziweiliang identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT xinyuwang identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT dashenglu identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT pingxiao identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction
AT zhijunzhou identificationofunknownpollutantsindrinkingwaterbasedonsolidphaseextractionandsupramolecularsolventextraction