Pre-treatment versus direct injection – that is the question posed in the application note, “The Detection of Acidic Herbicides and Phenyl Ureas by LC-MS/MS with Large Volume Injection and Automated Column Switching.” It’s just one of the dozens of articles you will find within the Environmental Compendium (pages 1 to 4, pesticides) now available for download.Download Compendium >

Here’s the thing with Pesticides. They are taking a hit for their toxic pervasiveness to wildlife and suspected hormone-disrupting qualities. A problem as they find their way into drinking water via agriculture runoff or rogue dumping. This is not just in happening in Europe but the world over. However, since this particular report focuses on the UK, here is some background information on the state of water testing within the region. According to a Eurostat Report, seven percent of groundwater stations have reported excessive levels of one or more pesticides.  However, as this application note points out, detection improvements are correlating with lowered acceptable limits. Hence, the need for a testing method that removes both cost and time associated with solid phase extraction and/or liquid/liquid extraction traditionally used for GC-MS analysis.

To give you an idea of what you will find not only in this study but throughout the environmental compendium, we’ve outlined some key points. For instance, you will discover how river and groundwater samples were obtained, filtered and directly injected into the LC-MS/MS system. Researchers thus follow up with graphics and content about:

• Column details
• Mass spectrometry
• Gradient profiles
• Calibration figures
• MRM transitions
• Signal to noise (S/N) calculations

Real-life scenarios and enforcing safety is a theme for the environmental compendium, and this application note demonstrates its effectiveness as the method is sensitive enough to be applied to U.K. surveillance work.