Analysis of sulfonamids and their metabolites in drinking water by high Performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Objective: To develop a comprehensive method for simultaneous analysis of sulfonamides and their metabolites in drinking water by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Methods: Different solid-phase extraction columns were compared with respect to the recovery of target drugs from drinking water. The drinking water samples were adjusted to 3 by HCl and purified by a mix mode cation-ion exchange solid-phase extraction (SPE), following determination using LG-MS/MS. A total of 21 sulfonamides were separated by a C15 column (2.1 mm x 100 mm, 1.7 µm) and analyzed under positive ion mode with multi-reaction monitoring. The matrix-matched external standard calibration was used for quantification.

Results: The method quantification limits for 21 analytes were 0.03-0.63 ng/L with overall recoveries of 50.1%-114.9%, and the relative standard deviations less than 20%. The method was finally used to analyze sulfonamides in drinking water in Beijing, and 5 target compounds (sulfadiazine, sulfathiazole, sulfapyridine, trimethoprim and sulfamethazine) were detected at a concentration range of 0.08-32.54 ng/L.

Conclusions: This method could be applied in simultaneous analysis of sulfonamides and their metabolites in drinking water samples.