Electrochemical Determination of Fenitrothion Organophosphorus Pesticide Using Polyzincon Modified‐glassy Carbon Electrode

In this paper, a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with polyzincon. The modified electrode was used as a simple, inexpensive and highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for the determination of organophosphorus pesticide fenitrothion. To fabricate the electrochemical sensor, GCE was immersed in 0.10 mmol L⁻¹ zincon solutions at pH 7.0 and then successively scanned between −1.00 to 2.20 V (vs . Ag/AgCl) at a scan rate of 70 mV s⁻¹ for six cycles. The morphology and structure of the polyzincon were studied with atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. A comparison of the electrochemical behavior of fenitrothion on the unmodified and polyzincon modified‐GCE showed that in the modified electrode not only the oxidation peak current increased, but also the overpotential shifted to lower one. The experimental conditions such as sample solution pH, accumulation potential, and time were optimized. The differential pulse voltammetric responses of fenitrothion at potential about −0.60 V was used for the determination of fenitrothion. The peak current increased with increasing the concentration of fenitrothion in the range of 5 to 8600 nmol L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 1.5 nmol L⁻¹. Finally, the electrochemical sensor was used for the analysis of fenitrothion in water and fruit samples.     

Low‐density extraction solvent based solvent‐terminated dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction for quantitative determination of ionizable pesticides in environmental waters

A rapid, efficient, and new solvent terminated dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction technique coupled with HPLC was developed for selective extraction and analysis of s‐triazine herbicides from environmental water samples. Important parameters influencing the extraction process including type and volume of extraction and disperser solvent, extraction time, sample pH, ionic strength, and extraction temperature were successfully optimized. Under the optimal conditions, there are excellent linear relationships between the analytical results and concentration in the range of 10–400 mg/L for atrazine, propazine, prometryn, and terbutryn. LOD and LOQ ranged from 0.60 to 2.33 μg/L and 2.0 to 7.7 μg/L, respectively. Performance of the analytical technique was evaluated by carrying out the repeatability and reproducibility analyses that were ranged from 2.86 to 5.66% and 4.64 to 5.89% for 100 μg/L of each target analyte, respectively. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the analysis of real water samples and acceptable relative recoveries over the range of 65.93–101.46%, with RSDs ≤ 8.80%, were obtained. The overall results have been compared with the literature values. Thus, the method developed could efficiently be used for selective extraction of the target analytes from complex matrices, particularly environmental waters.     

Graphene grafted silica‐coated Fe3O4 nanocomposite as absorbent for enrichment of carbamates from cucumbers and pears prior to HPLC

In this paper, a novel graphene (G) grafted silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite was fabricated by the chemical bonding of G onto the surface of silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. Some carbamates (metolcarb, carbaryl, pirimicarb, and diethofencarb) in cucumber and pear samples were enriched by this nanocomposite prior to their determination by HPLC with UV detection. Experimental parameters that may affect the extraction efficiency were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, a linear response was achieved in the concentration range of 0.5–100.0 ng/g for metolcarb, carbaryl, and diethofencarb, and 1.0–100 ng/g for pirimicarb with the correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.9956 to 0.9984. The LOD (S/N = 3) of the method were found to be in the range from 0.08 to 0.2 ng/g. The RSDs were in the range from 2.4 to 5.8%. The results indicated that the G grafted silica‐coated Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite was stable and efficient for magnetic SPE and has a great application potential for the preconcentration of other organic pollutants from real samples.     

Determination of Anionic Surfactants in Water

The use of ternary complexes in the determination of anionic surfactants has been investigated and an analytical method using linear alkyl sulfonates as a test substance has been developed. The method involves the formation of the chloroform-extractable bisphenanthroline Cu(II)-linear alkyl sulfonate (LAS) complex and the subsequent equilibration of the extract with erythrosine to form the extractable bisphenanthroline Cu(II)-erythrosine complex. In the equilibration step erythrosine displaces LAS quantitatively, allowing the determination of the LAS originally present by measuring the absorbance of the extracted bisphenanthroline-Cu(II)-erythrosine complex. Results are reported of studies made to determine the optimum analytical conditions, the sensitivity, and the precision for the method described.     

Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of three carbamate pesticides in water samples

A simple, rapid and efficient method, dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) in conjunction with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), has been developed for the determination of three carbamate pesticides (methomyl, carbofuran and carbaryl) in water samples. In this extraction process, a mixture of 35 µL chlorobenzene (extraction solvent) and 1.0 mL acetonitrile (disperser solvent) was rapidly injected into the 5.0 mL aqueous sample containing the analytes. After centrifuging (5 min at 4000 rpm), the fine droplets of chlorobenzene were sedimented in the bottom of the conical test tube. Sedimented phase (20 µL) was injected into the HPLC for analysis. Some important parameters, such as kind and volume of extraction and disperser solvent, extraction time and salt addition were investigated and optimised. Under the optimum extraction condition, the enrichment factors and extraction recoveries ranged from 148% to 189% and 74.2% to 94.4%, respectively. The methods yielded a linear range in the concentration from 1 to 1000 µg L^?1 for carbofuran and carbaryl, 5 to 1000 µg L^?1 for methomyl, and the limits of detection were 0.5, 0.9 and 0.1 µg L^?1, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSD) for the extraction of 500 µg L^?1 carbamate pesticides were in the range of 1.8–4.6% (n = 6). This method could be successfully applied for the determination of carbamate pesticides in tap water, river water and rain water.     

A Chemical Test for Determining Biological Availability of Aged Chemicals in Soil

Abstract

Aging is one of several processes that are known to affect exposure of chemicals to organisms by decreasing the available fraction of chemical contaminants in soil. This phenomenon has important implications in the assessment of the hazards of chemicals and regulations for soil cleanup. Passive sampling devices (PSDs) are potentially direct chemical indicators for assessing bioavailability of pesticides (and other chemicals). PSDs consist of lipophilic material within a semi-permeable membrane, similar to biological systems. In this study, a pesticide mixture was aged in soil for up to eight months. Earthworms and PSDs were placed in soil and chemical uptake into both was determined over time. Uptake rates into PSDs and maximum concentrations were observed to positively correlate with uptake rates and maximum concentrations in earthworms for both of the soil types studied (sandy loam, silt loam). These results indicate that PSDs may be used as a surrogate for earthworms and provide a chemical technique for assessing the availability of aged chemical residues in soil.     

Organochlorine Pesticides in Water,Sediment and Fish from the Nile River and Manzala Lake in Egypt

Abstract

To assess the risks of organochlorine pesticides discharged into the hydrospheric environment of Egypt, river and lake water, drinking water, suspended solids, sediments and fish were collected during 1993—1994 from the Nile River and Manzala Lake in Egypt and were transported to Japan for chemical analysis. Among different organochlorine pesticides analyzed, p,p′-DDE was the most predominant in fish (7.6 to 67 ng/g wet wt.), sediments (3.2 to 432 ng/g dry wt.) and suspended solids (5.3 tc 138 pg/L). However, in the dissolved phase of water samples HCH compounds predominated (α-HCH, 71 to 2,815 pg/L). Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides, except chlordane, were higher in Manzala Lake than in the River Nile. Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides in fish corresponded with those in sediments from each location. Comparison of organochlorine concentrations in Nile River water with those reported in earlier studies suggested a decrease in concentrations during the last decade. However, concentrations of p,p′-DDE has increased in fish. It appears that the release of this metabolite from contaminated sediment is the major source of p,p′-DDE in fish during recent years.     

Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Organochlorine Pesticides from Soil

Abstract

A supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) method was developed for the extraction of 21 organochlorine (OC) pesticides from soil using dichloromethane as cosolvent and magnesium sulfate as drying agent. Average recoveries of spiked OCs from six different soils generally ranged from 70 to 95%, with an average replicate precision of ± 13%. For the extraction of two soils containing “native” OCs, the SFE method gave generally similar or higher concentrations compared to Soxhlet extraction. The precision of replicate analyses of native OCs using SFE and Soxhlet extraction was ± 0.009 and ± 0.007 ug/g, with 24 and 13 degrees of freedom respectively.     

In-house validation for analytical methods and quality control for risk evaluation of chlordecone in food

Chlordecone was used until 1993 as a pesticide in the banana plantation of Martinique and Guadeloupe (French Antilles) against the root borer. This organochlorine pesticide was lipophilic, remnant, and toxic for human beings with both acute and chronic effects. Chlordecone was strongly absorbed and stored in soil and weakly decomposed in environment. Surveys conducted in 2001 revealed its presence in soil, rivers, and domestic food products. Local food (fruits and vegetables, cattle, poultry, and fish) was growing on soils, widely contaminated by chlordecone, used in the past as banana plantations. In 2003, French Administration asked for a risk evaluation for the Antilles population. The French Agency for Food Safety, proposed a Provisional Tolerable Daily Intake of 0.0005?mg?kg^?1?b.w.?day^?1, and an Acute Reference Dose of 0.01?mg?kg^?1?b.w.?day^?1, based on a toxicological risk assessment. The French National Reference Laboratory for pesticides has carried out two analytical methods, one for food of animal origin and another for food of fruit and vegetable origin. These methods were validated in the reference laboratory and dispatched to 13 laboratories for a proficiency test before the launch of two studies on Martinique and Guadeloupe food. About 900 samples from Martinique were sent to the network of laboratories for analysis of chlordecone. Performance parameters obtained through the proficiency test were briefly reported. The quality control test proposed in this study was discussed to shed light on the true variability achievable by intra-laboratory and inter-laboratory analysis. The limits of conventional quality-control procedures were discussed, and a process was proposed in order to get better confidence in analytical results.     

Determination of organochlorine pesticides in river water using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and gas chromatography–electron capture detection

Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with gas chromatography–electron capture detection (GC–ECD), has been developed for the extraction and determination of 14 organochlorine pesticides (hexachlorocyclohexanes (α-HCH, β-HCH and δ-HCH), Lindane (γ-HCH), Aldrin, Dieldrin, Endrin, Heptachlor, Heptachlor epoxide, α-Chlordane, β-Chlordane and p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDD, p,p′-DDE) in river water samples. Factors relevant to the microextraction efficiency, such as the kind of extraction and disperser solvent, their volume and the salt effect was investigated and optimised. In this method the appropriate mixture of extraction solvent (13.5 µL carbon disulphide) and disperser solvent (0.50 mL acetone) were rapidly injected into the aqueous sample by syringe. The values of the detection limit of the method were in the range of 0.05–0.001 µg L^?1, while the relative standard deviations for five replicates varied from 2.7 to 9.3%. A good linearity (0.9894 ≤ r ² ≤ 0.9998) and a broad linear range (0.01–200 µg L^?1) were obtained. The method exhibited enrichment factors ranging from 647 to 923, at room temperature. The relative standard deviations varied from 2.7 to 9.3% (n = 5). The relative recoveries of each pesticide from water samples at spiking levels of 2.00 and 10.0 µg L^?1 were 88.0–111.0% and 95.8–104.1%, respectively. Finally, the proposed method was successfully utilised for the preconcentration and determination of the organochlorine pesticides in the Jajrood River water samples.