Robotic and On-Flow Solid Phase Extraction Coupled with LC-MS/MS for Simultaneous Determination of 16 PPCPs: Real-Time Monitoring of Wastewater Effluent in Korea

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are recognized as emerging contaminants of concern, even at ultra-trace concentrations. However, the current detection systems are prohibitively expensive and typically rely on labor-intensive, lab-based workflows that lack automation in sample pretreatment. In this study, we developed a robotic and on-flow solid-phase extraction (ROF-SPE) system, fully integrated with online liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), for the on-site and real-time monitoring of 16 PPCPs in wastewater effluent. The system automates the entire pretreatment workflow—including sample collection, filtration, pH adjustment, solid-phase extraction, and injection—prior to seamless coupling with LC–MS/MS analysis. The optimized pretreatment parameters (pH 7 and 10, 12 mL wash volume, 9 mL elution volume) were selected for analytical efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Compared with conventional offline SPE methods (~370 min), the total analysis time was reduced to 80 min (78.4% reduction), and parallel automation significantly enhanced the throughput. The system was capable of quantifying target analytes at concentrations as low as 0.1 ng/L. Among the 16 PPCPs monitored at a municipal wastewater treatment plant in South Korea, only sulfamethazine and ranitidine were not detected. Compounds such as iopromide, caffeine, and paraxanthine were detected at high concentrations, and seasonal variation patterns were also observed This study demonstrates the feasibility of a fully automated and on-site SPE pretreatment system for ultra-trace environmental analysis and presents a practical solution for the real-time monitoring of contaminants in remote areas.