Analysis of Nucleosides in Municipal Wastewater by Large-Volume Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Nucleosides are components of both DNA and RNA, and contain either a ribose (RNA) or 2deoxyribose (DNA) sugar and a purine or pyrimidine base. In addition to DNA and RNA turnover, modified nucleosides found in urine have been correlated to a diminished health status associated with AIDS, cancers, oxidative stress and age. Nucleosides found in municipal wastewater influent are potentially useful markers of community health status, and as of now, remain uninvestigated. A method was developed to quantify nucleosides in municipal wastewater using large-volume injection, liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry. Method accuracy ranged from 92 to 139% when quantified by using isotopically labeled internal standards. Precision ranged from 6.1 to 19% of the relative standard deviation. The method's utility was demonstrated by the analysis of twenty-four hour composite wastewater influent samples that were collected over a week to investigate community nucleoside excretion. Nucleosides originating from RNA were more abundant that DNA over the study period, with total loads of nucleosides ranging from 2 to 25 kg/day. Given this relatively high amount of nucleosides found over the study period they present an attractive analyte for the investigation of community health.