Molecular characterization of effluent organic matter identified by ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry
Abstract
Effluent dissolved organic matter (EfOM) collected from the secondary-treated wastewater of the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) located in Fountain Valley, California, USA was compared to natural organic matter collected from the Suwannee River (SRNOM), Florida using ultrahigh resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). Furthermore, the two different treatment processes at OCSD, activated sludge and trickling filter, were separately investigated. The blend of these two effluents was further evaluated after it had passed through the microfiltration process of the Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF) at Orange County Water District (OCWD). EfOM contained 872 different m/z peaks that were unambiguously assigned to exact molecular formulae containing a single sulfur atom and carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms (CHOS formulae). In contrast, the SRNOM sample only contained 152 CHOS formulae. The trend in CHO molecular compositions was opposite with 2500 CHO formulae assigned for SRNOM but only about 1000 for EfOM. The CHOS-derived mass peaks with highest abundances in EfOM could be attributed to surfactants such as linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS), their co-products dialkyl tetralin sulfonates (DATS) and their biodegraded metabolites such as sulfophenyl carboxylic acids (SPC). The differences between the treatments were found minor with greater differences between sampling dates than treatment method…
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A group of important surfactants in treated wastewater were found, including LAS, DATS, and SPC.
“A group of important surfactants in treated wastewater were found, including linear alkyl benzene sulfonates (LAS, C18H30O3S), their major co-products dialkyl tetralin sulfonates (DATS, C16H24O3S) and their biodegraded metabolites sulfophenyl carboxylic acids (SPC, C14H20O5S) (Gonsior et al., 2011).”
From Molecular characteristics of emerging perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface waters around fluorine-related industries in a Chinese Megacity (2025) · cites this paper as Gonsior et al., 2011
(H/C)wa and (O/C)wa values were 1.49 and 0.35, respectively, similar to a secondary wastewater treatment.
“(H/C)wa and (O/C)wa values were 1.49 and 0.35, respectively, which were similar to a secondary wastewater treatment (H/C = 1.48, O/C = 0.40) (Gonsior et al., 2011).”
From Molecular characteristics of emerging perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface waters around fluorine-related industries in a Chinese Megacity (2025) · cites this paper as Gonsior et al., 2011
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High Resolution Mass Spectrometry
Xian, F., Hendrickson, C. L., & Marshall, A. G. (2012) · Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1021/ac203191t · Cited by 281 · see citing works
Li, S., Liu, J., An, X., Tang, C., Tang, C., Zhang, B., Chen, C., Lin, T., Jones, K. C., & Zhao, Z. (2025) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109444 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gonsior, M., Zwartjes, M., Cooper, W. J., Song, W., Ishida, K. P., Tseng, L. Y., Jeung, M. K., Rosso, D., Hertkorn, N., & Schmitt-Kopplin, P.
- Affiliations
- Linköping University (SE)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Helmholtz Munich (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Gonsior, Michael
- ORCID
- Venue
- Water Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-04
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2943-2953
- ISSN
- 0043-1354 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2093576128
- Cited by
- 312
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Water Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Site cant be reached (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Water Reuse Foundation
- WRF-08-11
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Water Quality Monitoring and Analysis
- Keywords
- wastewater treatment, activated sludge, biotrickling filter, molecular composition, linear alkylbenzene sulfonate, surfactants, microfiltration, Suwannee River natural organic matter, molecular characterization
- MeSH terms
- Alkanesulfonates, California, Carboxylic Acids, Environmental Monitoring, Florida, Fourier Analysis, Humic Substances, Mass Spectrometry, Waste Disposal, Fluid, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Alkanesulfonic Acids
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