Development of a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method for trace analysis of trisiloxane surfactants in the aqueous environment: An alternative strategy for quantification of ethoxylated surfactants

Trisiloxane surfactants, often referred to as superspreaders or superwetters, are added to pesticides to enhance the activity and the rainfastness of the active substance by promoting rapid spreading over hydrophobic surfaces. To fill the lack of data on the environmental occurrence of these compounds, we have developed and validated a method for their trace analysis in the aqueous environment. The method is based on liquid–liquid extraction followed by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. The oligomeric distribution of trisiloxane surfactant in a reference solution was determined by a theoretical calculation and by experimental measurements. Based on these results, the quantification was performed by comparison with a calibration made with a single homologue instead of a mixture of homologues. This approach avoids a time-consuming synthesis of pure homologues and reduces the risk of wrong estimation of the concentration because of different response factors of the sample and the standard. Such an approach could be applied to the quantification of other ethoxylated surfactants following a similar distribution. The validation was performed from 2 to 250 ng/L (total surfactant concentration) in deionized water, tap water, and river water (Rhine water). Knowing the oligomeric distribution of the polymer in the reference solution, the corresponding calibration ranges were estimated for individual homologues. Limits of quantification were found to be between 0.37 ng/L and 15 ng/L. The total recovery of sample preparation was between 77% and 116%. Matrix effects were lower than 10% with river water and the relative standard deviation evaluated over ten identical samples of spiked river water was below 12%.

► Silicone surfactant as agricultural adjuvants.
► Selective and sensitive method for trace analysis in the aqueous environment.
► Oligomer composition by Poisson distribution and single mass spectrometry.