Rapid determination of benzidine, picric acid, carbaryl, atrazine, and deltamethrin in surface water by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A method requiring no pre-treatment steps other than filtration, using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS ) , has been developed and applied for the rapid determination of benzidine, picric acid, carbaryl, atrazine, and deltamethrin residues in surface water. Water samples were filtered with a 0.2-mu m syringe filter for particle removal and injected directly into the UPLC instrument. The separation was performed on a Waters Acquity UPLC HSS T-3 column utilizing a gradient elution program of methanol (containing 2 mmol/L ammonium acetate) and water ( containing 2 mmol/L ammonium acetate) as the mobile phases at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The detection was accomplished by multiple-reaction monitoring scanning in positive/negative ion-switching electrospray ionization mode. Good linearity was observed in the range 0. 10-10. 0 mu g/L or 1. 00-100 mu g/L for different targets with correlation coefficients of 0.996 - 0.999. The limits of detection (LODs) were 0. 01-0. 22 mu g/L. The recoveries ranged between 81. 4% and 113% at three spiked levels with relative standard deviations (n = 6) between 0. 84% and 14. 0%. The developed method was applied to the analysis of surface waters (river water and reservoir water) from Hangzhou; atrazine and deltamethrin were detected in part of the analyzed samples. This proposed method was characterized by high sensitivity and precision, extensive analytical range, and a high analytical rate, and showed suitability for the analysis of the five named pollutants in surface water.