Analysis of iodinated haloacetic acids in drinking water by reversed-phase liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry with large volume direct aqueous injection

A large volume direct aqueous injection method was developed for the analysis of iodinated haloacetic acids in drinking water by using reversed-phase liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/tandem mass spectrometry in the negative ion mode. Both the external and internal standard calibration methods were studied for the analysis of monoiodoacetic acid, chloroiodoacetic acid, bromoiodoacetic acid, and diiodoacetic acid in drinking water. The use of a divert valve technique for the mobile phase solvent delay, along with isotopically labeled analogs used as internal standards, effectively reduced and compensated for the ionization suppression typically caused by coexisting common inorganic anions. Under the optimized method conditions, the mean absolute and relative recoveries resulting from the replicate fortified deionized water and chlorinated drinking water analyses were 83–107% with a relative standard deviation of 0.7–11.7% and 84–111% with a relative standard deviation of 0.8–12.1%, respectively. The method detection limits resulting from the external and internal standard calibrations, based on seven fortified deionized water replicates, were 0.7–2.3 ng/L and 0.5–1.9 ng/L, respectively.

► A rapid, sensitive, and accurate LC/MS/MS method was reported for iodoacetic acids.
► Optimized LC conditions could separate the analytes from common inorganic anions.
► A divert valve technique was used to significantly reduce the matrix effects.
► The direct aqueous injection analysis achieved detection limits of 0.5–2.3 ng/L.
► This method resulted in satisfactory recoveries and relative standard deviations.