Determination of N-nitrosamines in Water by Gas Chromatography
Coupled with Electron Impact Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Lee, Ki-chang; Park, Jae-hyung; Lee, Wontae; Lee, Ki-chang; Park, Jae-hyung; Lee, Wontae

doi:2014.36.11.764

The Korean text of this paper can be translated into multiple languages on the website of http://jksee.or.kr through Google Translator.

J Korean Soc Environ Eng > Volume 36(11); 2014 > Article

Original Paper

J Korean Soc Environ Eng 2014;36(11): 764-770. doi: https://doi.org/10.4491/KSEE.2014.36.11.764

EI-GC/MS/MS를 이용한 니트로사민류의 수질분석

이기창¹, 박재형¹, 이원태²

¹경상북도보건환경연구원
²금오공과대학교 토목환경공학부

Determination of N-nitrosamines in Water by Gas Chromatography Coupled with Electron Impact Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Ki-chang Lee¹, Jae-hyung Park¹, Wontae Lee²

¹Gyeongsangbuk-do Institute of Health and Environment
²Kumoh National Institute of Technology

Corresponding author

Wontae Lee ,Tel: 054-478-7636, Fax: 054-478-7859, Email: wtlee@kumoh.ac.kr

Received: October 29, 2014; Revised: November 13, 2014; Accepted: November 19, 2014. Published online: November 30, 2014.

ABSTRACT

This study assessed analysis of N-nitrosamines by separation, identification, and quantification using a gas chromatography (GC) mass spectrometer (MS) with electron impact (EI) mode. Samples were pretreated by a automated solid phase extraction (SPE) and a nitrogen concentration technique to detect low concentration ranges. The analysis results by EI-GC/MS (SIM) and EI-GC/ MS/MS (MRM) on standard samples with no pretreatment exhibited similar results. On the other hand, the analysis of pretreated samples at low concentrations (i.e. ng/L levels) were not reliable with a EI-GC/MS due to the interferences from impurity peaks. The method detection limits of eight (8) N-nitrosamines by EI-GC/MS/MS analysis ranged from 0.76 to 2.09 ng/L, and the limits of quantification ranged from 2.41 to 6.65 ng/L. The precision and accuracy of the method were evaluated using spiked samples at concentrations of 10, 20 and 100 ng/L. The precision were 1.2~13.6%, and the accuracy were 80.4~121.8%. The R² of the calibration curves were greater than 0.999. The recovery rates for various environmental samples were evaluated with a surrogate material (NDPA-d₁₄) and ranged 86.2~122.3%. Thus, this method can be used to determine low (ng/L) levels of N-nitrosamines in water samples.

Key Words: N-Nitrosamines, Solid Phase Extraction, EI-GC/MS/MS, Method Detection Limit, Recovery