University of Arizona, Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, 1133 E. James E. Rogers Way, Harshbarger 108, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; IER Environmental Protection Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518071, China.
University of Arizona, Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, 1133 E. James E. Rogers Way, Harshbarger 108, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, 700 Moreno Ave, La Verne, CA 91750, United States.
Talanta. 2019 Apr 1;195:830-840. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2018.11.113. Epub 2018 Dec 1.
Natural and synthetic corticosteroids (CSs) are a class of steroid hormones which could potentially disturb the corticosteroid signaling pathways in wildlife and humans. In this study, a sensitive and robust analytical method using solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for simultaneous analysis of sub-ng/L concentrations of 26 CSs in highly complex natural water matrices. The method performance was validated for WWTP influent, effluent, surface water and finished drinking water. Low practical quantification levels (PQLs) were achieved as 0.008-0.16 ng/L in finished drinking water, 0.019-0.50 ng/L in surface water, 0.047-1.5 ng/L in WWTP effluent, and 0.10-3.1 ng/L in WWTP influent, respectively, with the recoveries ranging from 70% to 130%. The cleanup performance and matrix interferences were also evaluated. This method was then applied to the analysis of target CSs in WWTP influent and effluent samples collected from a local WWTP, as well as surface water downstream of the WWTP outfall, detecting an average summed CS concentration of 744 ng/L in influent, 23.4 ng/L in effluent and 10.9 ng/L in surface water. Four synthetic CSs (triamcinolone acetonide, fluocinolone acetonide, clobetasol propionate, and fluticasone propionate) were found poorly removed in the WWTP. The developed method provides a tool to obtain occurrence data of corticosteroids in environmental waters, which will permit assessing their risk to environmental organisms.
天然和合成皮质类固醇（CSs）是一类甾体激素，可能会干扰野生动物和人类的皮质类固醇信号通路。在这项研究中，开发了一种使用固相萃取（SPE）和液相色谱-串联质谱（LC-MS/MS）的灵敏而强大的分析方法，用于同时分析高度复杂天然水基质中纳克/升浓度的 26 种 CSs。该方法针对 WWTP 进水、出水、地表水和饮用水进行了性能验证。在饮用水中达到了低实际定量限（PQL），为 0.008-0.16ng/L；在地表水中为 0.019-0.50ng/L；在 WWTP 出水中为 0.047-1.5ng/L；在 WWTP 进水中为 0.10-3.1ng/L，回收率在 70%-130%之间。还评估了净化性能和基质干扰。该方法随后应用于当地 WWTP 进水和出水样品以及 WWTP 出水口下游地表水的目标 CSs 分析，在进水、出水中分别检测到平均总和 CS 浓度为 744ng/L 和 23.4ng/L，在地表水中为 10.9ng/L。在 WWTP 中发现四种合成 CS（曲安奈德、氟轻松醋酸酯、丙酸氯倍他索和丙酸氟替卡松）去除效果不佳。所开发的方法为获取环境水中皮质类固醇的发生数据提供了工具，这将允许评估它们对环境生物的风险。
