High Performance Liquid Chromatograph Coupled to a Tandem Mass Spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) for the Detection of Organic Micropollutants in Water

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Funds are being requested to purchase a High Performance Liquid Chromatograph coupled to a tandem Mass Spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) that will be used to support three independent but complementary research programs within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo (UW). The HPLC/MS/MS is a critical analytical instrument for measuring emerging organic micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, estrogens, perfluorinated compounds, and cyanotoxins in water. Dr. Peter Huck, holder of the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Water Treatment at UW for the past 20 years, leads various research studies for which the HPLC/MS/MS is essential. These projects include: (1) evaluation of drinking water treatment options for the removal of perfluorinated compounds and cyanotoxins, (2) removal of pharmaceuticals for water reuse, and (3) biofiltration as an alternative treatment for emerging micropollutants. Dr. Sheree Pagsuyoin, who is developing a decision support system for managing the ecological footprint of emerging micropollutants in watersheds, will use the HPLC/MS/MS to measure the levels of pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicine, and endocrine-disrupting compounds in surface water and groundwater. The equipment will also be used to quantify the removal efficiencies for select organic micropollutants during wastewater treatment. Dr. Nandita Basu, who is developing passive field sampling devices, will use the HPLC/MS/MS to quantify the pollutant fluxes that pass through these sampling devices during deployment in streams and in groundwater.