Compliance analysis of phenylurea and related compounds in drinking water by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry coupled with solid-phase extraction

A liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry method was reported for the compliance analysis of seven phenylurea compounds and two related herbicides (tebuthiuron and propanil) in drinking water. The volumes of the sample and final extract used in the method were 500 mL and 10 mL, respectively. The obtained method detection limits were less than 0.03 μg/L, and the mean recoveries were 74-128% with a relative standard deviation of 2.6-8.3% for all the studied compounds. The peak-to-peak signal-to-noise ratios ranged from 3.3 for cis-siduron to 34.2 for fluometuron. The accuracy and precision resulting from reagent and drinking water samples fortified at higher concentration levels were similar to these results. Several analytes were detected in the drinking water samples, including tebuthiuron at 0.5 μg/L, propanil at 0.7 μg/L, diuron at 0.1-2.1 μg/L, and linuron at 0.1-0.8 μg/L.