High resolution mass spectrometry screening of urban stormwater for identification of novel contaminants and their sources
Presentation Abstract
Untreated urban runoff transports many chemical contaminants, toxicants, and other bioactive chemicals, thus contributing to poor water quality in receiving waters. The identity and key sources of many of these contaminants are unknown or poorly defined, thus impairing our ability to effectively protect ecosystem and human health. However, the identification of contaminants in complex mixtures such as urban runoff is a challenging analytical task. Additionally, it can be difficult to determine key sources of contaminants to receiving waters, especially when multiple sources are contributing similar contaminants to receiving waters. Here, we present the use of high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry to characterize the occurrence and fate of known and novel trace organic contaminants in stormwater runoff. Key transformation products and structurally related compounds are presented for a variety of sources, highlighting the importance of reactive processes to contaminant fate in stormwater. In addition, we linked the occurrence of several of the dominant runoff-derived contaminants to their primary sources by creating a variety of synthetic solutions, leachates or extracts from key chemical sources in urban stormwater. These sources included tire and plastic leachates, antifreeze, motor oil, and other automotive fluids. We then developed non-target “chemical fingerprints” or “signatures” for subsets of feature detections in these samples types, and used dilution series of these fingerprints to estimate the contributions of these sources to highway runoff. In particular, leachates of used motor oil and tires were especially rich in uncharacterized features, including highly abundant features that often dominated feature detections in urban waters, pointing to the importance of these specific sources to polluted waters.
Session Title
Stormwater Characterization and Management Using a Watershed Approach
Conference Track
SSE3: Fate, Transport, and Toxicity of Chemicals
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE3-515
Start Date
6-4-2018 11:00 AM
End Date
6-4-2018 11:15 AM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Urban runoff--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)--Management; Pollutants--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); High resolution spectroscopy--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Water--Sampling--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
High resolution mass spectrometry screening of urban stormwater for identification of novel contaminants and their sources
Untreated urban runoff transports many chemical contaminants, toxicants, and other bioactive chemicals, thus contributing to poor water quality in receiving waters. The identity and key sources of many of these contaminants are unknown or poorly defined, thus impairing our ability to effectively protect ecosystem and human health. However, the identification of contaminants in complex mixtures such as urban runoff is a challenging analytical task. Additionally, it can be difficult to determine key sources of contaminants to receiving waters, especially when multiple sources are contributing similar contaminants to receiving waters. Here, we present the use of high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry to characterize the occurrence and fate of known and novel trace organic contaminants in stormwater runoff. Key transformation products and structurally related compounds are presented for a variety of sources, highlighting the importance of reactive processes to contaminant fate in stormwater. In addition, we linked the occurrence of several of the dominant runoff-derived contaminants to their primary sources by creating a variety of synthetic solutions, leachates or extracts from key chemical sources in urban stormwater. These sources included tire and plastic leachates, antifreeze, motor oil, and other automotive fluids. We then developed non-target “chemical fingerprints” or “signatures” for subsets of feature detections in these samples types, and used dilution series of these fingerprints to estimate the contributions of these sources to highway runoff. In particular, leachates of used motor oil and tires were especially rich in uncharacterized features, including highly abundant features that often dominated feature detections in urban waters, pointing to the importance of these specific sources to polluted waters.
