Early warning surveillance of drinking water by photoionization/mass spectrometry

Abstract

Increased terrorist activity is raising concerns about the safety of water supplies. Early warning systems that are accurate and fast are needed to deploy effective strategies for rapid response. A new analyzer based on photoionization (PI) and quadrupole ion trap, time‐of‐flight (QitTof) mass spectrometry (MS) offers high‐speed, high‐throughput screening and molecular identification of chemical weapons threats and other hazardous compounds. A growing number of municipalities and government facilities are adopting this new screening instrumentation to help safeguard public drinking water. This article reviews the strategy being taken by cities such as Phoenix, Ariz., to develop an early warning capability based on the PI/QitTof MS screening technology. The screening technology can detect a wide range of compounds at subacute concentrations with no sample preparation and a sampling cycle time of about 45 s.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2005
Source ID
10.1002/j.1551-8833.2005.tb10804.x

Entities

People

  • Jack Syage
  • Jennifer Calles
  • Matthew L Evans
  • Randy Gottler

Organizations

  • Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Tags

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Environmental Remediation and Restoration.
  • Oncology and Biomarker-Based Cancer Detection.