Low Parts Per Trillion Detection of Iodinated Disinfection Byproducts in Drinking Water and Urine using Vacuum-Assisted Sorbent Extraction and GC–MS/MS

Disinfection byproducts (DBPs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants, which are present in virtually all drinking water and linked to detrimental health effects. Iodinated-DBPs are more cytotoxic and genotoxic than chloro- and bromo-DBPs and are formed during disinfection of iodide-containing source water. Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) paired with gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS) has been the method of choice in the study of low molecular weight iodinated-DBPs; however, this method is laborious and time-consuming and struggles with complex matrices. We developed an environmentally friendly method utilizing headspace solid phase extraction with the application of vacuum to measure six iodinated-trihalomethanes (I-THMs) in drinking water and urine. Vacuum-assisted sorbent extraction (VASE) has the ability to exhaustively and rapidly extract volatile and semivolatile compounds from liquid matrices without the use of solvent. Using VASE with GC–MS/MS provides improved analyte recovery and reduced matrix interference compared to LLE. Additionally, VASE enables extraction of 30 samples simultaneously with minimal sample handling and improved method reproducibility. Using VASE with GC–MS/MS, we achieved quantification limits of 3–4 ng/L. This technique was demonstrated on drinking water from four cities, where five I-THMs were quantified at levels 10–33 times below comparable LLE methods with 10 times lower volumes of sample (10 mL vs 100 mL).