Rapid determination of trace phenolic compounds in aqueous samples by solid phase microextraction coupled with ambient ionization mass spectrometry.

The trace phenolic emerging contaminants bisphenol A, 4-n-nonylphenol and 4-tert-octylphenol were rapidly detected in river water using solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with ambient ionization mass spectrometry. Each analysis involved the use of SPME fibers to isolate, extract, and pre-concentrate analytes from aqueous samples. Each SPME fiber with adsorbed analytes was then placed into a thermal desorption electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry system for rapid detection. The analytes on the fiber were thermally desorbed, ionized in an electrospray plume, and detected by a triple quadrupole mass analyzer operated under multiple reaction monitoring mode. Calibration curves for each analyte were obtained with good linearity as shown by R2 values greater than 0.9976 and limits of quantitation for each analyte in the low ppt levels. Precise quantitative analyses were achieved with coefficients of variation below 4.0%. The simultaneous quantification of these emerging contaminants took approximately 15 min for each river water sample.