Atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) and electrospray ionization (ESI) are compared for the mass spectrometry (MS) quantitation of pharmaceuticals frequently detected in environmental waters, including antibiotics, beta blockers, and selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
In this study, atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) is compared to the default ionization method, electrospray ionization (ESI), for solution-phase samples. These mass spectrometry methods are compared and optimized relative to artificial wastewater for the detection and quantitation of pharmaceuticals frequently found as environmental contaminants.