State-of-the-art of screening methods for the rapid identification of chemicals in drinking water

The contamination of drinking water is potentially harmful and poses a risk to public health. If any observation suggests a potential contamination of drinking water, such as consumer complaints about the alteration of the water's organoleptic properties, the appearance of health problems or an alarm triggered by sensors, a rapid identification of the hazard causing the problem is necessary. With regards to chemical contamination, EU Member States have several strategies to deal with the presence of unknown chemicals in water: there are screening methods as well as systematic approaches used for the analysis and identification of different groups of chemicals. This report provides a brief overview of the existing methods for the non-targeted screening of organic compounds in water samples by means of mass spectrometry. This review is thus based on the studies and explorations that can be performed by different mass spectrometry approaches. In addition, the most relevant European institutions working on this topic and that are currently contributing to the development of the non-target screening of pollutants are presented.