A sensitive analytical procedure for monitoring acrylamide in environmental water samples by offline SPE–UPLC/MS/MS

Abstract

The presence of acrylamide in natural systems is of concern from both environmental and health points of view. We developed an accurate and robust analytical procedure (offline solid phase extraction combined with UPLC/MS/MS) with a limit of quantification (20 ng L(-1)) compatible with toxicity threshold values. The optimized (considering the nature of extraction phases, sampling volumes, and solvent of elution) solid phase extraction (SPE) was validated according to ISO Standard ISO/IEC 17025 on groundwater, surface water, and industrial process water samples. Acrylamide is highly polar, which induces a high variability during the SPE step, therefore requiring the use of C(13)-labeled acrylamide as an internal standard to guarantee the accuracy and robustness of the method (uncertainty about 25 % (k = 2) at limit of quantification level). The specificity of the method and the stability of acrylamide were studied for these environmental media, and it was shown that the method is suitable for measuring acrylamide in environmental studies.

Transfer and degradation of polyacrylamide-based flocculants in hydrosystems: a review

“…This could explain that AMD degrading microorgansims use AMD as nitrogen source and sometimes also as carbon source, and that some bacteria can grow as AMD as the sole sources of N and C (Shukor et al 2009a, Nawaz et al 1994, 1996. From an experimental point of view, AMD can be analyzed directly either by HPLC or by UPLC depending on the concentration (Togola et al, 2014;Guezennec et al, 2014;Touze et al, 2014;VerVers, 1999). The degradation of AMD can also be easily monitored by the quantification of ammonia that can be achieved using indicator such as Phenol red that changes in color (from red to pink) in the presence of ammonia (Santoshkumar et al 2010).…”

Acrylamide in Surface and Drinking Water

“…Acrylamide can be determined in surface and drinking water samples, by direct injection [4,[66][67][68] or after a preparative step [19,69,70] by GC-MS or GC electron capture detector (ECD), and by liquid chromatography (LC) or MS detection [4,19,67]. Table 1 lists different extraction and analytical techniques developed for water samples, with their limits of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD).…”

“…A robust, sensitive, and accurate ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS) method combined with SPE was developed with a limit of quantification (0.002 μg L −1 ) compatible with toxicity threshold values [70]. This method is suitable to determine trace levels of acrylamide in groundwater, surface water, and processed water.…”

Monitoring and Removal of Acrylamide From Aqueous Solution Using Potassium Permanganate

“…The major site of reaction is sulfydrl groups contained on proteins and amino acids (JIFSAN, 2002). Polyacrylamide is used in many products and activities: grout, cement, drinking water and wastewater treatment, pesticides, food manufacturing (WHO, 2011), crude oil production, coatings for home appliances, building materials, automotive parts, explosives, adhesives, printing inks, adhesive tapes, and latex (Togola et al, 2015).…”

“…Concentration levels are usually very low, and the physicochemical properties of Acylamide make this molecule difficult to quantify in natural samples. (Togola et al, 2015).…”