POLAR ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN THE ELBE RIVER - LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHIC MASS-SPECTROMETRIC AND FLOW-INJECTION ANALYSIS MASS-SPECTROMETRIC ANALYSES DEMONSTRATING CHANGES IN QUALITY AND CONCENTRATION DURING THE UNIFICATION PROCESS IN GERMANY

During the unification process of the two German states from 1989 to 1 994, water extracts from the Elbe river were analyzed by gas chromatog raphy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and by high-performance liquid chromat ography (HPLC) combined with ultraviolet (UV) and/or mass spectrometri c detection (MS) in order to monitor the pollutants in one of the most contaminated European rivers. After column chromatography (LC) or flo w-injection analysis (FIA) bypassing the analytical column, ionization was performed by a thermospray interface (TSP). Semiquantitative esti mations of the pollution of the Elbe were made form the total-ion curr ent traces (TIG) of the extracts. Determination of the total dissolved organic carbon (DOG) indicated a reduction of more than 55% of pollut ants in the water phase. The pollutants were identified by tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS), generating daughter-ion spectra by collision-in duced dissociation (CID) using either column chromatography or direct mixture analysis. Compound-specific analyses indicated a reduction in the amount of pollutants as well as a change in their composition. Thi s could be explained by reduced industrial production and by intensifi ed construction of biological sewage treatment plants.