Evaluation of sample preparation methods for suspect and non-target screening in water, sediment, and biota samples using gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry

In this study, the sample preparation methods were proposed for the suspect and non-target screening (SNTS) using gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry in the aquatic environment. The pretreatment methods were evaluated based on detection rates, recoveries, and screening detection limits (SDLs) for 316 substances spiked into surface water, sediment, and biota samples. The detection rates of the spiked compounds were 92.1 % and 98.7 % by the sample preparation methods for water (solid-phase extraction using HLB cartridge) and sediment (ultrasonic extraction (USE) with HLB cartridge clean-up), respectively. Similarly, USE with HLB cartridge clean-up gave the highest detection rate (87.9 %) for biota samples; however, additional pretreatment method using deactivated silica gel clean-up was necessary for the detection of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The SDL ranges of spiked compounds by the suggested pretreatment methods were 0.01-23.5 ng/L for surface water, 0.02-37.5 ng/g dry weight for sediment, and 0.01-12.2 ng/g wet weight for biota. Although some pollutants, such as POPs had SDLs that were higher than the levels normally detected in the aquatic environment as reported in previous studies, the analytical methods suggested in the present study were satisfactory for the SNTS of most pollutants originated from anthropogenic sources.