TY - JOUR

T1 - Direct Measurement of Organic Micropollutants in Water and Wastewater Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy

AU - Paradina-Fernández, Lesly

AU - Wünsch, Urban

AU - Bro, Rasmus

AU - Murphy, Kathleen

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Quantifying organic micropollutants (OMPs) in aquatic environments and assessing their removal by water treatment requires expensive and time-consuming analyses typically using liquid chromatographic separation and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In this study, we evaluated the potential for detecting fluorescent OMPs via spectroscopy, which is cheap, rapid, and widely accessible. The method involved using a priori PARAFAC models to eliminate interfering background fluorescence emitted by naturally occurring dissolved organic matter. Of 20 screened pharmaceutical OMPs, three (ciprofloxacin, naproxen, and zolpidem) with calculated fluorescence quantum yields 0.14, 0.21, and 0.71, respectively, could be quantified in the low μg L-1 range when added alone or in combination to water samples without any sample pretreatment other than filtration and pH adjustment. Limits of detection for all three OMPs were 1.0-3.3 μg L-1 in surface waters, while in wastewater, they were 0.6-9.0 μg L-1 for ciprofloxacin and naproxen and 1.0-2.6 μg L-1 for zolpidem. Given the high cost of pharmaceutical analyses and widespread availability of fluorometers, the new approach will improve access to rapid and cost-effective results by supporting data-intensive lab-scale studies, wherein the types of OMPs studied and their concentration ranges are under the control of the analyst.

AB - Quantifying organic micropollutants (OMPs) in aquatic environments and assessing their removal by water treatment requires expensive and time-consuming analyses typically using liquid chromatographic separation and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In this study, we evaluated the potential for detecting fluorescent OMPs via spectroscopy, which is cheap, rapid, and widely accessible. The method involved using a priori PARAFAC models to eliminate interfering background fluorescence emitted by naturally occurring dissolved organic matter. Of 20 screened pharmaceutical OMPs, three (ciprofloxacin, naproxen, and zolpidem) with calculated fluorescence quantum yields 0.14, 0.21, and 0.71, respectively, could be quantified in the low μg L-1 range when added alone or in combination to water samples without any sample pretreatment other than filtration and pH adjustment. Limits of detection for all three OMPs were 1.0-3.3 μg L-1 in surface waters, while in wastewater, they were 0.6-9.0 μg L-1 for ciprofloxacin and naproxen and 1.0-2.6 μg L-1 for zolpidem. Given the high cost of pharmaceutical analyses and widespread availability of fluorometers, the new approach will improve access to rapid and cost-effective results by supporting data-intensive lab-scale studies, wherein the types of OMPs studied and their concentration ranges are under the control of the analyst.

KW - contaminants of emerging concern (CECs)

KW - fluorescence excitation−emission matrices

KW - PARAFAC

KW - pharmaceutical

KW - quantum yield

KW - wastewater

U2 - 10.1021/acsestwater.3c00323

DO - 10.1021/acsestwater.3c00323

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85179168697

VL - 3

SP - 3905

EP - 3915

JO - ACS ES and T Water

JF - ACS ES and T Water

SN - 2690-0637

IS - 12

ER -