Development of a headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for determination of organophosphorus pesticide residues in cow milk

In the past few years, organophosphorus compounds become one of the most widely used classes of pesticides due to their acute toxicity against a wide variety of pests. In this work, a method based on solid-phase microextraction in mode headspace (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed and optimized through multivariate factorial design to determine residues of organophosphorus pesticides in cow's milk. Different parameters of the method were evaluated, such as fiber type, temperature, extraction and desorption times, sample volume, effect of salt addition and stirring velocities. The evaluated pesticides were dichlorvos, sulfotep, demeton-S, dimpylate, disulfoton, parathion, methyl parathion, fenitrothion, chlorpyrifos and ethion. The best results were obtained using polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene fiber and headspace mode at 90 °C for 45 min, along with stirring at 600 rpm and desorption for 5 min at 250 °C. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed methodology was able to determine all of the pesticides with variation coefficients between 6.1% and 29.5%. Detection and quantification limits ranged from 2.16 to 10.85 μg L^− 1 and from 6.5 to 32.9 μg L^− 1, respectively. To evaluate residues of these pesticides in milk, cows were exposed to the pesticides of interest and milk was collected after 24 h. The developed method was able to detect trace amounts of these pesticides in the collected milk samples.     

Simple water analysis of golf link pesticides by means of batch-wise adsorption and supercritical fluid extraction

Here, a simple new method is proposed to evaluate water for the presence of pesticides. Specifically, pesticides for golf link maintenance were used as the targets for this investigation. Water samples containing the pesticides were mixed with particulate adsorbent, after which the pesticides were extracted from the adsorbents using supercritical fluid carbon dioxide and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The recoveries of pesticides were examined with several types of adsorbents and found to be related to their octanol/water partition coefficients (K_ow) for most of the adsorbents. Good recoveries were obtained when the water samples were mixed with octadecylsilane (ODS) and stylene-divinylbenzene copolymer (XAD) resins for 15 and 30 min, respectively. In the supercritical fluid extraction, extraction pressure affected the efficiency of extraction from XAD while a little effect on extraction from ODS, probably due to the internal structure of the adsorbents. The limit of detection ranged from 0.002 to 2.3 μg L⁻¹ and the method is suitable for the measurement of golf link pesticides in μg L⁻¹ order to 100 μg L⁻¹. The procedure of the proposed method was simpler than the conventional solid-phase extraction method. Finally, the method presented here was used to identify pesticides present in actual wastewater from golf links.     

Application of an ultrasound-assisted surfactant-enhanced emulsification microextraction method for the analysis of diethofencarb and pyrimethanil fungicides in water and fruit juice samples

In this work, a simple, practical and environmentally friendly sample pre-treatment method, ultrasound-assisted surfactant-enhanced emulsification microextraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector/electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry, was developed to determine diethofencarb and pyrimethanil residues in water and fruit juice samples. Tween 80 was used as an emulsifier and carbon tetrachloride was chosen as the extraction solvent, and no dispersive organic solvent was needed, which is typically required in common dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction methods. Several variables, such as the type and volume of extraction solvent and surfactant, extraction temperature and ultrasound extraction time were investigated and optimised. Under optimal conditions, the enrichment factors were 265 and 253 for diethofencarb and pyrimethanil, respectively. The limits of detection (LODs), calculated as three times the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), were 0.01 μg L⁻¹ for both diethofencarb and pyrimethanil. The linearity of the method was obtained in the range of 0.05–2000 μg L⁻¹, with correlation coefficients of 0.9994–0.9998. The water (at fortified levels of 0.1 and 1.0 μg L⁻¹) and fruit juice samples (at fortified levels of 0.1 and 1.0 μg L⁻¹) were successfully analysed using the proposed method, and the relative recoveries were in the range of 88–114%, 93–111%, 86–117% and 94–101%, respectively.     

Bamboo Charcoal as Solid-Phase Extraction Adsorbent for the Determination of Organophosphorus Pesticides in Water Samples by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

In this paper, bamboo charcoal was successfully developed for the solid-phase extraction adsorbent for the determination of six organophosphorus pesticides in water samples. After the bamboo charcoal was pretreated and packed in the solid-phase extraction cartridge, the organophosphorus pesticides in water samples were carried out the solid-phase extraction. To establish a perfect solid-phase extraction procedure, the experimental conditions including the eluent, eluent volume, pH of the sample, flow rate of the sample, and loading volume of the sample were all investigated. When 100 mL water samples in the pH range of 6–7 were loaded with the flow rate of 2.5 mL · min^?1 and then eluted with 10 mL acetonitrile, the proposed extraction method was validated by the recovery, correlation coefficient (R²), repeatability (RSD, n = 7) and LODs, which were 69.6–93.4%, 0.9982–0.9998, 2.9–5.6%, and 0.08–1.04 µg · L^?1, respectively. Furthermore, the analysis of the tap, snow, and river water samples demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed SPE method for real water samples. Based on the aforementioned factors, it could be concluded that bamboo charcoal was a good solid-phase extraction adsorbent, and this proposed solid-phase extraction method was suitable for the effective enrichment and determination of the organophosphorus pesticides in water samples.     

Simultaneous Filtration and Solid-Phase Extraction Combined with Large-Volume Injection in GC/MS for Ultra-Trace Analysis of Polar Pesticides in Surface Water

A method combining simultaneous filtration and solid-phase extraction (SPE) with large-volume injection (LVI) in gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was developed to determine 13 polar pesticides in surface water. The selected pesticides - 4 organophosphorus, 7 organonitrogens and 2 triazine degradation products - were extracted from 0.5-L samples of filtered and raw water using cartridges filled with a silica-bonded material (1 g of ISOLUTE triazine, C-18) and a depth filter. No obstruction was observed during the extraction of raw water drawn from the St. Lawrence River (concentration of suspended particulate matter (SPM) ranging from 2 to 58 mg L^?1). Overall percent recoveries were satisfactory for all the target pesticides (>60%) except desisopropyl-atrazine (more polar), which varied from 29 to 46% according to sample pH. The coefficient of variation was below 10% for the majority of the target pesticides and detection limits ranged from 0.1 to 0.8 ng L^?1. Applied to real samples drawn from the St. Lawrence River, this method allowed for the detection of atrazine, cyanazine, desethyl-atrazine (DEA), desisopropyl-atrazine (DIA), metolachlor and simazine, at concentrations of 6 to 91 ng L^?1. Using atrazine and metolachlor as examples, the correlation between filtered and raw water samples was more significant for the former (r = 0.87) than for the latter (r = 0.67). Temporal variations in atrazine and metolachlor in filtered water drawn from the St. Lawrence River, for example, were similar whether using the established method, based on liquid-liquid large-volume extraction (LVE) combined with GC/NPD analysis, or the one proposed herein. The latter method, however, systematically found atrazine concentrations 62% higher than those obtained by the older one, applied to the same field samples. Thus, the switch to the new analytical method will require the application of a correction factor to the atrazine concentration time series acquired with the previously used method.     

Extraction and determination of organophosphorus pesticides in water samples by a new liquid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-flame photometric detection

A rapid, sensitive and efficient liquid phase microextraction (LPME) method was developed to determine trace concentrations of some organophosphorus pesticides in water samples. This method combines liquid phase microextraction with gas chromatographic (GC) analysis in a simple and inexpensive apparatus involving very little organic solvent consumption. It involves exposing a floated drop of an organic solvent on the surface of aqueous solution in a sealed vial. Experimental parameters which control the performance of LPME such as type of organic solvent, organic solvent and sample volumes, sample stirring rate, sample solution temperature, salt addition and exposure time were investigated and optimized. Finally, the enrichment factor, dynamic linear range (DLR), limit of detection (LOD) and precision of the method were evaluated by the water samples spiked with organophosphorus pesticides. Using optimum extraction conditions, very low detection limits (0.01-0.04 μg L⁻¹) and good linearities (0.9983 < r² < 0.9999) were achieved. The LPME was performed for determination of organophosphorus pesticides in different types of natural water samples and acceptable recoveries (96-104%) and precisions (3.5 < R.S.D.% < 8.9) were obtained. The results suggested that the newly proposed LPME method is a rapid, accurate and effective sample preparation method and could be successfully applied for extraction and determination of organophosphorus pesticides in water samples.     

Assisted inhibition effect of acetylcholinesterase with n-octylphosphonic acid and application in high sensitive detection of organophosphorous pesticides by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry

A simple and practical approach to improve the sensitivity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibited method has been developed for monitoring organophosphorous (OP) pesticide residues. In this work, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry (MALDI-FTMS) was used to detect AChE activity. Due to its good salt-tolerance and low sample consumption, MALDI-FTMS facilitates rapid and high-throughput screening of OP pesticides. Here we describe a new method to obtain low detection limits via employing external reagents. Among candidate compounds, n-octylphosphonic acid (n-Octyl-PA) displays assistant effect to enhance AChE inhibition by OP pesticides. In presence of n-Octyl-PA, the percentages of AChE inhibition still kept correlation with OP pesticide concentrations. The detection limits were improved significantly even by 10²–10³ folds in comparison with conventional enzyme-inhibited methods. Different detection limits of OP pesticides with different toxicities were as low as 0.005 μg L⁻¹ for high toxic pesticides and 0.05 μg L⁻¹ for low toxic pesticides. Besides, the reliability of results from this method to analyze cowpea samples had been demonstrated by liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The application of this commercial available assistant agent shows great promise to detect OP compounds in complicated biological matrix and broadens the mind for high sensitivity detection of OP pesticide residues in agricultural products.     

Determination of organophosphorus pesticides in ecological textiles by solid-phase microextraction with a siloxane-modified polyurethane acrylic resin fiber

A novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coating was prepared with siloxane-modified polyurethane acrylic resin by photo-cured technology. The ratio of two monomers was investigated to obtain good microphase separation structure and better extraction performance. The self-made fiber was then applied to organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) analysis and several factors, such as extraction/desorption time, extraction temperature, salinity, and pH, were studied. The optimized conditions were: 15 min extraction at 25 °C, 5% Na₂SO₄ content, pH 7.0 and 4 min desorption in GC inlet. The self-made fiber coating exhibited better extraction efficiency for OPPs, compared with three commercial fiber coatings. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits of 11 OPPs were from 0.03 μg L⁻¹ to 0.5 μg L⁻¹. Good recoveries and repeatabilities were obtained when the method was used to determine OPPs in ecological textile.     

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.     

Orthogonal array design for the optimization of hollow fiber protected liquid-phase microextraction of salicylates from environmental waters

In the present study, a three phase-based hollow fiber protected liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) method combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the determination of salicylates in environmental waters was developed. The HF-LPME procedure was optimized by an L₁₆(4⁵) orthogonal array experimental design (OAD) with five factors at four levels. Under the optimal extraction condition (pHs of donor and receiving phases of 3.0 and 6.2, respectively, extraction time of 45 min, stirring speed of 1000 rpm, and salt addition of 20% (w/v)), salicylates could be determined in a linear range from 0.025 to 1.0 μg mL⁻¹ with a good correlation (r² > 0.9930). The limits of detection (LODs) ranged between 0.6 ng mL⁻¹ and 1.2 ng mL⁻¹ for the target analytes. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of intra-day and inter-day were in the range of 0.64–14.58% and 0.16–15.45%, respectively. This procedure afforded a convenient, sensitive, accurate and cost-saving operation with high extraction efficiency for the model analytes. The method was applied satisfactorily to the determination of salicylates in two environmental waters.     

Synthesis of three haptens for the class-specific immunoassay of O,O-dimethyl organophosphorus pesticides and effect of hapten heterology on immunoassay sensitivity

A general and broad class-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed for the O,O-dimethyl organophosphorus pesticides, including malathion, dimethoate, phenthoate, phosmet, methidathion, fenitrothion, methyl parathion and fenthion. Three haptens with different spacer-arms were synthesized. The haptens were conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA) for immunogens and to ovalbumin (OVA) for coating antigens. Rabbits were immunized with the immunogens and six polyclonal antisera were produced and screened against each of the coating antigens using competitive indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for selecting the proper antiserum. The effect of hapten heterology on immunoassay sensitivity was also studied. The antibody-antigen combination with the most selectivity for malathion was further optimized and tested for tolerance to co-solvent, pH and ionic strength changes. The IC₅₀ values, under optimum conditions, were estimated to be 30.1 μg L⁻¹for malathion, 28.9 μg L⁻¹ for dimethoate, 88.3 μg L⁻¹ for phenthoate, 159.7 μg L⁻¹ for phosmet, 191.7 μg L⁻¹ for methidathion, 324.0 μg L⁻¹ for fenitrothion, 483.9 μg L⁻¹ for methyl parathion, and 788.9 μg L⁻¹ for fenthion. Recoveries of malathion, dimethoate, phenthoate, phosmet and methidathion from fortified Chinese cabbage samples ranged between 77.1% and 104.7%. This assay can be used in monitoring studies for the multi-residue determination of O,O-dimethyl organophosphorus pesticides.     

Development of liquid phase microextraction method based on solidification of floated organic drop for extraction and preconcentration of organochlorine pesticides in water samples

A simple and efficient liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) in conjunction with gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD) has been developed for extraction and determination of 11 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) from water samples. In this technique a microdrop of 1-dodecanol containing pentachloronitrobenzene (internal standard) is delivered to the surface of an aqueous sample while being agitated by a stirring bar in the bulk of solution. Following completion of extraction, the sample vial was cooled by putting it into an ice bath for 5 min. Finally 2 μL of the drop was injected into the GC for analysis. Factors relevant to the extraction efficiency were studied and optimized. Under the optimized extraction conditions (extraction solvent: 1-dodecanol; extraction temperature: 65 °C; sodium chloride concentration: 0.25 M; microdrop and sample volumes: 8 μL and 20 mL respectively; the stirring rate: 750 rpm and the extraction time: 30 min), figures of merit of the proposed method were evaluated. The detection limits of the method were in the range of 7-19 ng L⁻¹ and the RSD% for analysis of 2 μg L⁻¹ of OCPs was below 7.2% (n = 5). A good linearity (r² ≥ 0.993) and a relatively broad dynamic linear range (25-2000 ng L⁻¹) were obtained. After 30 min of extraction, preconcentration factors were in the range of 708-1337 for different organochlorine pesticides and the relative errors ranged from −10.1 to 10.9%. Finally the proposed method was successfully utilized for preconcentration and determination of OCPs in different real samples.     

Application of porous membrane protected micro-solid-phase-extraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the determination of estrogens in ovarian cyst fluid samples

A cost effective and environmentally friendly extraction technique using porous membrane protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) is described for the extraction of estrogens in cyst fluid samples obtained from cancer patients. A sorbent (ethylsilane (C2) modified silica) (20 mg) was packed in a porous polypropylene envelope (2 cm × 1.5 cm) whose edges were heat sealed to secure the contents. The μ-SPE device was conditioned with acetone and placed in a stirred (1:5) diluted cyst fluid sample solution (10 mL) to extract estrogens for 60 min. After extraction, the analytes were desorbed and simultaneously derivatized with a 5:1 mixture of acetone and N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)-trifluoroacetamide. The extract (2 μL) was analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Various extraction, desorption and derivatization conditions were optimized for μ-SPE. With this simple technique, low limits of detection of between 9 and 22 ng L⁻¹ and linear range from the detection limits up to 50 μg L⁻¹ were achieved. The optimized method was used to extract estrogens from cyst fluid samples obtained from patients with malignant and benign ovarian tumors.     

Development of a headspace-gas chromatography (HS-GC-PID-FID) method for the determination of VOCs in environmental aqueous matrices: Optimization, verification and elimination of matrix effect and VOC distribution on the Fortaleza Coast, Brazil

An analytical protocol combining a headspace technique with gas chromatography and detection by photoionization detector and flame ionization detector (HS-GC-PID-FID) was developed. This procedure was used to measure volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in environmental aqueous matrices and was applied in determination of VOCs on the coast of Fortaleza, Brazil. At optimum operating conditions, analytical figures of merit such as linearity (R ranged from 0.9983 to 0.9993), repeatability (5.62 to 9.63% and 0.02 to 0.19% for the quantitative and qualitative analyses, respectively), detection limits (0.22 to 7.48 μg L⁻¹) and sensibility were estimated. This protocol favors a fast sampling/sample preparation (in situ), minimizes the use of laboratory material, eliminates the matrix effect from environmental samples, and can be applied to river, estuarine and oceanic waters. The advantage of detectors in series is that a low sensitivity in detection in one is compensated by the other. Toluene was the most abundant VOC in the studied area, with an average concentration of 1.63 μg L⁻¹. It was followed by o-xylene (1.15 μg L⁻¹), trichloroethene (1.08 μg L⁻¹), benzene (0.86 μg L⁻¹), ethylbenzene (0.74 μg L⁻¹), carbon tetrachloride (0.55 μg L⁻¹), m/p-xylene (0.48 μg L⁻¹) and tetrachloroethene (0.46 μg L⁻¹), compounds which are very commonly detected in urban runoff from most cities. The results of the VOC distribution showed that port activity was not the main source of VOCs along the Fortaleza Coast, but that the contribution from urban runoff seemed more significant.     

Interference modelling, experimental design and pre-concentration steps in validation of the Fenton's reagent for pesticides determination

The determination of atrazine in real samples (commercial pesticide preparations and water matrices) shows how the Fenton's reagent can be used with analytical purposes when kinetic methodology and multivariate calibration methods are applied. Also, binary mixtures of atrazine-alachlor and atrazine-bentazone in pesticide preparations have been resolved. The work shows the way in which interferences and the matrix effect can be modelled. Experimental design has been used to optimize experimental conditions, including the effect of solvent (methanol) used for extraction of atrazine from the sample. The determination of pesticides in commercial preparations was accomplished without any pre-treatment of sample apart from evaporation of solvent; the calibration model was developed for concentration ranges between 0.46 and 11.6 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ with mean relative errors under 4%. Solid-phase extraction is used for pre-concentration of atrazine in water samples through C₁₈ disks, and the concentration range for determination was established between 4 and 115 μg L⁻¹approximately. Satisfactory results for recuperation of atrazine were always obtained.     

Single solid phase extraction method for the simultaneous analysis of polar and non-polar pesticides in urine samples by gas chromatography and ultra high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

A new multiresidue method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous extraction of more than two hundred pesticides, including non-polar and polar pesticides (carbamates, organochlorine, organophosphorous, pyrethroids, herbicides and insecticides) in urine at trace levels by gas and ultra high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to ion trap and triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, respectively (GC-IT-MS/MS, UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS). Non-polar and polar pesticides were simultaneously extracted from urine samples by a simple and fast solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure using C₁₈ cartridges as sorbent, and dichloromethane as elution solvent. Recovery was in the range of 60-120%. Precision values expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) were lower than 25%. Identification and confirmation of the compounds were performed by the use of retention time windows, comparison of spectra (GC-amenable compounds) or the estimation of the ion ratio (LC-amenable compounds). For GC-amenable pesticides, limits of detection (LODs) ranged from 0.001 to 0.436 μg L⁻¹ and limits of quantification (LOQs) from 0.003 to 1.452 μg L⁻¹. For LC-amenable pesticides, LODs ranged from 0.003 to 1.048 μg L⁻¹ and LOQs ranged from 0.011 to 3.494 μg L⁻¹. Finally, the optimized method was applied to the analysis of fourteen real samples of infants from agricultural population. Some pesticides such as methoxyfenozide, tebufenozide, piperonyl butoxide and propoxur were found at concentrations ranged from 1.61 to 24.4 μg L⁻¹, whereas methiocarb sulfoxide was detected at trace levels in two samples.     

A new 1,3-dibutylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ionic liquid-based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction to determine organophosphorus pesticides in water and fruit samples by high-performance liquid chromatography

The paper described a new ionic liquid, 1,3-dibutylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, as extraction solvent for extraction and preconcentration of organophosphorus pesticides (fenitrothion, parathion, fenthion and phoxim) from water and fruit samples by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography. The effects of experimental parameters, such as extraction solvent volume, disperser solvent and its volume, extraction and centrifugal time, sample pH, extraction temperature and salt addition, on the extraction efficiency were investigated. An extraction recovery of over 75% and enrichment factor of over 300-fold were obtained under the optimum conditions. The linearity relationship was also observed in the range of 5–1000 μg L⁻¹ with the correlation coefficients (r²) ranging from 0.9988 to 0.9999. Limits of detection were 0.01–0.05 μg L⁻¹ for four analytes. The relative standard deviations at spiking three different concentration levels of 20, 100 and 500 μg L⁻¹ varied from 1.3–2.7, 1.4–1.9 and 1.1–1.7% (n = 7), respectively. Three real samples including tap water, Yellow River water and pear spiked at three concentration levels were analyzed and yielded recoveries ranging from 92.7–109.1, 95.0–108.2 and 91.2–108.1%, respectively.     

Multiresidue procedures for determination of triazine and organophosphorus pesticides in water by use of large-volume PTV injection in gas chromatography

Summary Two procedures, based on large-volume injection with a programmed-temperature vaporizer (PTV), have been developed for the determination of several triazine and organophosphorus pesticides. The use of PTV for injection in gas chromatography (GC) has enabled the introduction of up to 200 μL sample extract into the GC, thus increasing the sensitivity of the method. PTV injection has been combined off-line with two different microextraction procedures—liquid-liquid partition and solid-phase extraction. A simple and rapid off-line liquid-liquid microextraction procedure (5 mL water/1 mL methyltert-butyl ether) was applied to surface water samples spiked at levels between 0.01 and 5μg L⁻¹. Recoveries of the overall procedure were >80% and the precision was better than 15%. Detection limits were <30 ngL⁻¹ from 200-μL injections in GC-NPD analysis of triazines and GC-FPD analysis of organophosphorus pesticides. Off-line automated solid-phase extraction with C₁₈ cartridges has been applied to water samples (50 mL) spiked at 0.01, 0.1 and 1 μg L⁻¹. The overall procedure was satisfactory (recoveries >80% and coefficients of variation <12%) and the limits of detection ranged from 1 to 9 ng L⁻¹. Finally, several surface water samples were anlysed, and triazine herbicides were detected at concentrations of approx. 0.1–0.2 μg L⁻¹. The results were similar to those obtained by conventional solvent extraction then GC-MSD after splitless injection of 2 μL.     

Headspace solid phase microextraction in the determination of pesticides in water samples from the Okavango Delta with gas chromatography-electron capture detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) was optimized for the analysis of pesticides with gas chromatography electron capture detection (GC-ECD) and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Factors influencing the extraction efficiency such as fiber type, extraction mode and temperature, effect of ionic strength, stirring and extraction time were evaluated. The lowest pesticide concentrations that could be detected in spiked aliquots after HS-SPME–GC-ECD ranged from 0.0005 to 0.0032 μg L^{− 1}. Consequently hexachlorobenzene, trans-chlordane, 4,4′-DDD and 4,4′-DDE were detected in water samples after HS-SPME at concentrations ranging from 2.4 to 61.4 μg L^{− 1} that are much higher than the 0.1 μg L^{− 1} maximum limit of individual organochlorine pesticides in drinking water set by the European Community Directive. The same samples were cleaned with ISOLUTE C₁₈ SPE sorbent with an optimal acetone/n-hexane (1:1 v/v) mixture for the elution of analytes. No pesticides were detected after SPE clean-up and pre-concentration. Precision for both methods was satisfactory with relative standard deviations less than 20%. This work demonstrated the superiority of HS-SPME as a sample clean-up and pre-concentration technique for pesticides in water samples as well as the need to identify and control point sources of pesticides.     

Bi‐enzyme Electrochemical Sensor for Selective Determination of Organophosphorus Pesticides with Phenolic Leaving Groups

An amperometric bi‐enzyme sensor for detection of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) with phenolic leaving groups, which are not electroactive, is presented in this work. The biosensing platform was created by a simple, controllable, and reproducible one‐step electrodeposition onto the surface of a glassy carbon electrode of a chitosan bionanocomposite with entrapped carboxylated multi walled carbon nanotubes, organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH), and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The OPs determination involved a sequence of OPH and HRP‐catalyzed reactions resulting in phenolic radicals production, which were quantified by registering the current of their reduction at a potential of −50 mV vs. Ag, AgCl/KCl_sat.The developed sensor was applied for the determination of prothiofos, as an example. At optimized conditions (pH 7.25 and H₂O₂ concentration 200 μmol L⁻¹), a LOD as low as 0.8 μmol L⁻¹ was attained, while the linear concentration range was extended from 2.64 μmol L⁻¹ up to 35 μmol L⁻¹. The main advantage of the proposed bi‐enzyme sensor is its selectivity toward the OPs with phenolic leaving groups, excluding the interference of the nitrophenyl‐substituted OPs.