In the work presented here, highly sensitive determination of around 100 contaminants in surface water in the concentration range from low double-digit to low triple-digit pg/L was performed. Priority compounds from the EU water framework directive (EU-WFD) as well as substances from other legislation were included. A sequential stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) approach employing the GERSTEL Twister was used for analyte enrichment from 100 mL water samples.

The Twister was thermally desorbed, compounds were separated via GC and detected by tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) utilizing an Agilent 7010 MS. The analysis method was comprehensively validated and requirements of the EU-WFD for inland surface water were fulfilled. Repeat analyses of water samples spiked at concentrations close to t he Limits of Quantification (LOQ) of the respective analytes demonstrated relative standard deviations between 1 and 15 % with an average of 6.9