Protection of our drinking water resources from contaminants is a major responsibility for both government and water producing bodies. The response taken to a potential drinking water emergency will depend upon both the composition and the nature of the identified contaminant(s). Furthermore it is essential that there is a high degree of confidence in the correct and rapid identification of the problem before remedial action is taken. To date it has been a necessity to employ a combination of multiple analytical techniques to meet this end.
This paper describes the use of single quadrupole and triple quadrupole Mass Spectrometry coupled to Liquid Chromatography for the analysis of 17 pesticides in drinking water and soil samples. Both detection technologies are compared with respect to selectivity, sensitivity, identification, linear range, accuracy, and reproducibility for quantitative analysis.