Automated Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) of EPA Method 1694 for Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Large Volume Water Samples

EPA Method 1694 measures target analytes in large volume water samples by groups according to acid or basic solid phase extraction conditions and ionization mode. In this application note manual acid solid phase extraction is compared to automated acid solid phase extraction (using the Gilson Large‐Volume Clean Water Solid Phase Extraction System) for analyzing water samples. ESI positive ionization mode HPLC/MS‐MS analysis was used for final quantitation and recovery. Research results are comparable for 1000 mL and 500 mL large volume water samples to address two common issues faced by many laboratories: 1) efficiency of the SPE process and 2) data reproducibility.