A single run, rapid polarity switching method for determination of 30 pharmaceuticals and personal care products in waste water using Q-Exactive Orbitrap high resolution accurate mass spectrometry

Abstract The analytical capability of the UPLC-Q Exactive™ Orbitrap MS was exploited for simultaneous determination of 30 acidic and basic PPCPs in a single run, using rapid polarity switching of the electrospray ionisation source. Full scan MS mode at resolution of 35,000 FWHM, Automatic gain control (AGC) target of 1E6 ions at injection time of 50 ms provided the optimum parameters for high sensitivity, together with sufficient data points per peak (≥15) for improved reproducibility. In addition to chromatographic retention times, method selectivity was achieved via applying high resolution accurate mass with low mass tolerance filter ( 2 > 0.95) were established for all target analytes over a concentration range of 1–1500 ng/ml. Good results were obtained for method accuracy (% recovery = 76–104%), inter- and intra-day precision (relative standard deviation