Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) triclosan and nonylphenol, were investigated throughout wastewater treatment in a publicly owned treatment works (POTW). Both compounds react quickly upon chlorination under laboratory conditions, transforming into mono and dichlorinated species. A novel quantitative analytical method employing mass spectrometry was demonstrated on Delaware POTW wastewater samples. Specific transformation products were not detected and the concentration of precursor analytes was not found to be statistically different after treatment. Under tertiary chlorination conditions, transformation products are not produced. ESI-MS was used to explore triply charged, highly hydrated lanthanide ions and charge reduction was directly observed in the MS collision cell. This process proceeded via proton transfer, proved by a strong correlation between the minimum number of water molecules required to stabilize the Ln3+ and the first hydrolysis constant (R2=0.92). The effect of different solvents on the surface activity of ions under electrospray ionization (ESI) was investigated using dilute ionic liquids and the relative surface activity of a given pair of ions could be reversed by moving from a relatively polar solvent to a relatively non-polar one. / Graduate