Relative decay of fecal indicator bacteria and human-associated markers: a microcosm study simulating wastewater input into seawater and freshwater.

Fecal contaminations of inland and coastal waters induce risks to human health and economic losses. To improve water management, specific markers have been developed to differentiate between sources of contamination. This study investigates the relative decay of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB, Escherichia coli and enterococci) and six human-associated markers (two bacterial markers: Bacteroidales HF183 (HF183) and Bifidobacterium adolescentis (BifAd); one viral marker: genogroup II F-specific RNA bacteriophages (FRNAPH II); three chemical markers: caffeine and two fecal stanol ratios) in freshwater and seawater microcosms seeded with human wastewater. These experiments were performed in darkness, at 20 °C and under aerobic conditions. The modeling of the decay curves allows us (i) to compare FIB and markers and (ii) to classify markers according to their persistence in seawater (FRNAPH II < HF183, stanol ratios < BifAd, caffeine) and in freshwater (HF183, stanol ratios < FRNAPH II < BifAd < caffeine). Although those results depend on the experimental conditions, this study represents a necessary step to develop and validate an interdisciplinary toolbox for the investigation of the sources of fecal contaminations.

Determination of ethephon residues in water by gas chromatography with cubic mass spectrometry after ion-exchange purification and derivatisation with N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide.

An analytical method has been developed for the determination of residues of ethephon (2-chloroethyl phosphonic acid) in drinking and surface water. The procedure is based on de-ionisation with an anion/cation-exchange resin, solid phase extraction by means of anion-exchange polystyrene-divinylbenzene extraction disks, elution with a mixture of methanol and 10 M hydrochloric acid (98/2, v/v), redisolution into acetonitrile after evaporation and silylation with N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-N-methyltrifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA). Quantification is performed by gas chromatography with ion-trap cubic mass spectrometric detection in the electron impact mode (GC-EI-MS3). Method validation was conducted using samples of mineral, tap, and river water that were fortified with ethephon at concentration levels ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 microg/L. The mean recovery from all the fortified samples (n = 36) amounted to 88% with a relative standard deviation of 17%. The method, therefore, was shown to allow accurate determination of ethephon residues in drinking and surface water with a limit of quantification of 0.1 microg/L.

Determination of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid residues in water by gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry after exchange ion resin purification and derivatization. Application on vegetable matrixes

An analytical method for the determination of glyphosate and its principal metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in water of different hardnesses (5, 20, and 30 degrees DH, french hardness) has been developed. Samples were fortified at different levels (0.05, 0.1, 1, and 5 microg/L) and were purified by column chromatography on ion-exchange resins. After derivatization with TFAA/HFB mixture, the derivatives were quantified by using capillary gas chromatography with an ion-trap tandem mass spectrometric detector. Analytical conditions for MS/MS detection were optimized, and the quantification was carried out on the sum of areas of the three most representative ions: m/z 283, 223, and 181 for AMPA and m/z 440, 321, and 261 for glyphosate. The limit of quantification was demonstrated to be at 0.05 microg/L for each compound. The mean recovery value and the relative standard deviation (n = 65) were 93 and 12% for AMPA and 95 and 13% for glyphosate.