Environmental contamination by explosives occurs due to improper handling and disposal procedures. Explosives and their transformation products pose threat to human health and the ecosystem. Trace level detection of explosives present in different environmental matrices is a challenge, due to the interference caused by matrix components and the presence of cocontaminants. Liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is an advanced analytical tool, which is ideal for quantitative and qualitative detection of explosives and its metabolites at trace levels. This review aims to showcase the current trends in the application of LC-MS/MS for detecting explosives present in soil, sediment, and groundwater with detection limits ranging from nano to femtogram levels. Specificity and advantages of using LC-MS/MS over conventional analytical methods and various processing methods and techniques used for sample preparation are discussed in this article. Important application aspects of LC-MS/MS on environmental monitoring include site characterization and degradation evaluation. Studies on qualitative and quantitative LC-MS/MS analysis in determining the efficiency of treatment processes and contamination mapping, optimized conditions of LC and MS/MS adopted, role of different ionization techniques and mass analyzers in detection of explosives and its metabolites, relative abundance of various product ions formed on dissociation and the levels of detection achieved are reviewed. Ionization suppression, matrix effect, additive selection are some of the major factors which influence MS/MS detection. A summary of challenges and future research insights for effective utilization of this technique in the environmental monitoring of explosives are presented.

中文翻译：

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使用 LC-MS/MS 对土壤/沉积物/地下水中存在的烈性炸药进行环境监测的趋势

由于不当的处理和处置程序，爆炸物造成环境污染。炸药及其转化产物对人类健康和生态系统构成威胁。由于基质成分和共污染物的存在造成干扰，对不同环境基质中存在的爆炸物进行痕量检测是一项挑战。液相色谱结合串联质谱 (LC-MS/MS) 是一种先进的分析工具，非常适合痕量爆炸物及其代谢物的定量和定性检测。本综述旨在展示 LC-MS/MS 用于检测土壤、沉积物和地下水中存在的爆炸物的当前趋势，检测限范围从纳克级到飞克级。本文讨论了使用 LC-MS/MS 相对于传统分析方法的特异性和优势以及用于样品制备的各种处理方法和技术。LC-MS/MS 在环境监测中的重要应用包括场地表征和降解评估。研究定性和定量 LC-MS/MS 分析以确定处理过程和污染图的效率、采用的 LC 和 MS/MS 的优化条件、不同电离技术和质量分析仪在爆炸物及其代谢物检测中的作用、相对丰度回顾了解离时形成的各种产物离子以及所达到的检测水平。电离抑制、基质效应、添加剂选择是影响 MS/MS 检测的一些主要因素。总结了在爆炸物环境监测中有效利用该技术的挑战和未来研究见解。