Solid-phase extraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography–ionspray interface–mass spectrometry for monitoring of herbicides in environmental water

In this work we developed a sensitive and specific multiresidue method, based on reversed-phase liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, with an ionspray interface (LC–ISI-MS), for determining 52 of most representative compounds of herbicides in water samples. The procedure used involved passing 0.5 l of surface water, 2 l of ground water and 4 l of drinking water samples, respectively, through a 0.5 g graphitized carbon black (GCB) extraction cartridge. Base–neutral and acid herbicides were differential eluted from GCB cartridge and follow analyzed by HPLC–ISI-MS apparatus. A conventional 4.6-mm-ID reversed-phase LC C18 column, operating with a mobile phase flow-rate of 1 ml/min, was used to chromatograph the analytes. A flow of 100 μl/min of the column effluent was diverted to the ISI source. The study demonstrates the sensitivity of the technique, with detection limit under 10 ng/l in drinking water samples. Performance data for the method such as recovery and precision are also reported.