Dennis Vughs

KWR Water Research Institute

Already in early 2000s, concerns have been growing in the EU about increasing use of cocaine and it is estimated that below 1 % of the population administer the drug by smoking crack cocaine. New available data suggests an increase in the use of crack cocaine and an increase in the number of crack cocaine users entering treatment has been reported...

Comprehensive metabolome analyses are essential for biomedical, environmental, and biotechnological research. However, current MS1- and MS2-based acquisition and data analysis strategies in untargeted metabolomics result in low identification rates of metabolites. Here we present HERMES, a molecular-formula-oriented and peak-detection-free method t...

Surface waters are widely used as source for drinking water production and hence their quality needs to be continuously monitored. However, current routine monitoring programs are not comprehensive as they mostly cover only a limited number of known pollutants and emerging contaminants. This study presents a risk-based approach combining suspect an...

LC-HRMS-based nontarget screening (NTS) has become the method of choice to monitor organic micropollutants (OMPs) in drinking water and its sources. OMPs are identified by matching experimental fragmentation (MS2) spectra with library or in silico-predicted spectra. This requires informative experimental spectra and prioritization to reduce feature...

Comprehensive metabolome analyses are hampered by low identification rates of metabolites due to suboptimal strategies in MS and MS2 acquisition, and data analysis. Here we present a molecular formula-oriented and peak detection-free method, HERMES, that improves sensitivity and selectivity for metabolite profiling in MS and structural annotation i...

Highly polar chemicals are mobile in an aqueous environment. Analytical methods for these compounds in water are lacking. A combined target/nontarget screening method based on hydrophilic interaction LC coupled to high-resolution MS was developed. Thirty-two highly polar chemicals (including melem and melam) can thus be quantitatively measured in s...

Film-forming amine products (FFAP) are frequently used as corrosion inhibitors in steam-water systems. To have a better understanding of their behavior in the treated system, a liquid chromatography coupled to the high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC–HRMS) method was developed. This method enabled the concurrent targeted quantitative analysis of t...

Non-target screening (NTS) based on the combination of liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry has become the key method to identify organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) in water samples. However, a large number of compounds remains unidentified with current NTS approaches due to poor quality fragmentation spectra generated by...

In the present study analytical methodologies were developed for two newly emerging polar perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), namely F3-MSA, and HFPO-DA, in order to assess the occurrence and levels of these PFAS in Dutch and Belgian waters. Two separate methods were needed for analysing F3-MSA and HFPO-DA. A mixed-mode and a reversed phase C18...

The results of this sampling campaign on pilot scale processes aim to evaluate the occurrence and behavior of trace organic micro-pollutants and metal elements during anion exchange treatment of surface water and the subsequent treatment of generated spent brine with two types of electrodialysis membrane pairs. This knowledge is relevant to assess...

Transformation products (TPs) can be formed from organic micropollutants in the water cycle through both biological and technological processes. Despite the TPs’ potentially altered toxicity compared to their parent compounds, transformation processes are not routinely monitored, and in particular those induced by drinking water treatment remain el...

A novel sample preparation procedure relying on Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) combining different sorbent materials on a sequential-based cartridge was optimized and validated for the enrichment of 117 widely diverse contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) from surface waters (SW) and further combined chemical and biological analysis on subsequent e...

free download link https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Wt1A1MCG0I9Bk until 23 may Chemical analysis of domestic wastewater can reveal the presence of illicit drugs either consumed by a population or directly discharged into the sewer system. In the search for causes of a recent malfunctioning of a small domestic wastewater treatment plant aberrantly h...

Multiple drug resistance and increased side effects due to allopathic drugs has warned scientific community with a global alarm to identify molecules from natural sources to combat diseases with minimum or no side effects. The present investigation was aimed to identify and isolate secondary metabolites from traditionally used Nerium indicum using...

For the prioritization of more than 5200 anthropogenic chemicals authorized on the European market, we use a large scale liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) suspect screening study. The prioritization is based on occurrence in 151 water samples including effluent, surface water, ground water and drinking water. The sus...

Covering the latest developments in themes related to water disinfection by-products, this book brings the reader right up to date. Stemming from an international conference, contributions are from decision-makers, regulators and the relevant scientific community. Coverage includes emerging disinfection by-products, water treatment, water recycling...

Advanced oxidation processes are important barriers for organic micropollutants (e.g. pharmaceuticals, pesticides) in (drinking) water treatment. Studies indicate that medium pressure (MP) UV/H2O2 treatment leads to a positive response in Ames mutagenicity tests, which is then removed after granulated activated carbon (GAC) filtration. The formed p...