ELECTROSPRAY-IONIZATION ION MOBILITY SPECTROMETRY AS A FIELD MONITORING METHOD FOR THE DETECTION OF ATRAZINE IN NATURAL-WATER

Electrospray ionization-ion mobility spectrometry (ESI-IMS) was used t o detect atrazine in a synthetic water sample that contained 0.01 M KC l and water that was collected from a natural cranberry bog. The bog w ater contained humic substances and had a dissolved organic carbon (DO C) concentration of 16 mg/l, There was no interference from these matr ices observed in ESI-IMS measurements. The analytical merits of ESI-IM S for direct water sampling and detection are reported. A dynamic resp onse range of more than 2 orders of magnitude and a limit of detection in the nanomolar range were obtained. In addition, results of the ESI -IMS method were compared with conventional spectra obtained by HPLC w ith UV detection. Concentration measurements for atrazine in bog water determined with ESI-IMS matched those obtained by HPLC. Successful de tection of the target compound in a complex water matrix indicated tha t ESI-IMS could be used as a fast screening technique for solution-pha se environmental samples. Results from this study provide fundamental information necessary for constructing a field-monitoring device based on the ESI-IMS technique. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.