The possibility of analysing 33 carbamate pesticides and 14 of their t
ransformation products was investigated utilizing flow injection parti
cle beam/mass spectrometry (PBMS) with electron impact (EI) ionization
and ammonia and methane positive and negative chemical ionization (CI
). Optimum operating conditions of the interface and mass spectrometer
in each mode were determined, with special attention given to spectru
m quality; variables investigated included ion source temperature and
ion source pressure in CI experiments. Ammonia, as a reagent gas, prov
ided less fragmentation and better quantitative results than methane.
The CI response was generally higher with positive ion detection (PCI)
than with negative ion detection (NCI), but NCI was found to be highl
y selective for compounds such as aminocarb, asulam and thiophanate-me
thyl, As regards analyte detectability, EI performed best for most com
pounds, with the spectra providing relevant structure information. The
response of more polar degradation products is generally larger by 2-
3 orders of magnitude compared with the parent compounds. When analysi
ng real samples, the combined use of CI for molecular mass determinati
on and EI for structure elucidation is required. The spectral informat
ion from this study and additional chromatographic data were used for
the determination of low- and sub-mu g l(-1) levels of the test carbam
ates in surface water.