Organic pollutants in biological waste water treatment. results of mass and tandem mass spectrometry of the flow injection mode compared with liquid chromatographic examinations:: Polar compounds under positive ionization

Polar pollutants in the waste water of the Thessaloniki waste water treatment plant were qualitatively examined by substance-specific detection and identification methods. Many pollutants contained in the inflow could even be observed in the effluent together with their metabolites. To characterize these difficult to degrade and non-removable compounds, screening methods applying flow injection analysis and liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric techniques, both in combination with soft ionizing interfaces like atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and electrospray ionization in the positive mode were used. After concentration by SPE, selective elution was performed prior to flow injection analysis or LC both in combination with MS detection. For identification of polar waste-water constituents tandem mass spectrometry by collision-induced dissociation and source CID were applied. Results obtained by substance-specific MS detection techniques are compared and discussed.