Troubleshooting in the trace analysis of organochlorine pesticides in water samples

Summary As a consequence of the high toxicity of organochlorine pesticides their presence in water for human consumption is limited by legislation. To determine these compounds at trace levels, an extraction procedure and a highly sensitive analytical technique is necessary. In this work we have used laminar disks for the solid-phase extraction of 21 organochlorine pesticides from water. The analytical technique selected is gas chromatography with electron-capture detection. A solid-phase extraction procedure is proposed, and some problems has been encountered. Low recovery of some pesticides has been obtained, because of their adsorption by the walls of containers. To prevent this adsorption, addition of 20% methanol before the sampling step is proposed. Adsorption of pesticides by the organic matter present in water samples was also observed. Pesticides can be adsorbed by the membrane filters usually used to remove suspended particulate matter from water samples. Different kinds of filters have been tested, and the occurrence of the problem has been confirmed. The use of laminar disks in this work has overcome this problem.     

Comparison of different sorbents for multiresidue solid-phase extraction of 16 pesticides from groundwater coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography

A procedure based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detection has been developed for the simultaneous analysis of 16 widely used pesticides in groundwater samples. The compounds analysed were: aldicarb, atrazine, desethylatrazine, desysopropylatrazine, carbofuran, 2,4-D, dicloran, fenitrothion, iprodione, linuron, metalaxyl, metazachlor, phenmedipham, procymidone, simazine and vinclozolin. Five different SPE sorbents, C₁₈ bonded silica (Isolute SPE C18 (EC)), graphitised carbon black (Superclean Envi-Carb), highly cross-linked polystyrene-divinylbenzene (Lichrolut EN), divinylbenzene-N-vinylpyrrolidone (Oasis HLB) and surface modified styrene-divinylbenzene (Strata X), were compared. HPLC separation and quantification of the selected pesticides was carried out under isocratic conditions by means of a new reversed-phase column (Gemini from Phenomenex) based on C₁₈ bonded to organic-silica particles. Oasis HLB and Strata X provided the best results in the preconcentration of 1-l samples, yielding average recoveries higher than 70%, except for phenmedipham that rapidly degrades in groundwater. Detection limits of the target pesticides provided by the proposed SPE-HPLC procedure were between 0.003 and 0.04 μg l⁻¹.     

Determination of pesticides in soil samples by solid phase extraction disks

Summary A systematic study comparing the methodology and analytical results obtained in an investigation of seven pesticide residues (Molinate, Atrazine, Carbofuran, Pirimicarb, Prometryn, Malathion and Tetrachlorvinphos) in soil samples is reported. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) using glass columns and 47 mm disks of octyl and octadecyl-bonded silica was used in the pesticide analysis. The best extraction efficiency and clearest extracts are obtained with C₈ disks. The analyses were carried out by capillary gas chromatography with nitrogen and phosphorus detection. Recovery experiments were performed at ppb levels in spiked soil samples. The average recoveries of the compounds were 53–77%. Detection limits are between 5 and 30 ng g^–1 based on 5 g moist soil sample. The method was validated by comparing it with conventional liquid-liquid extraction.     

GC-NPD investigation of the recovery of organonitrogen and organophosphorus pesticides from apple samples: The effect of the extraction solvent

Summary A gas chromatographic method employing a capillary column and a selective nitrogen/phosphorus detector (NPD) has been developed for the determination of organophosphorus (OP) and organonitrogen (NP) pesticides in horticultural samples (apples). The separation of sixteen pesticides and the internal standard was performed in thirteen minutes. The analytical characteristics of the method, including linear response ranges, detection limits, and reproducibility, have been studied using a 11 mixture of ethyl acetate and xylene as extraction solvent. The possibility of mutual interference between pesticides has also been studied. A procedure for the quantitative extraction of the sixteen pesticides from apple samples has also been developed; for fifteen of the pesticides recoveries >85% were obtained after 90 minutes extraction. The effect of different solvents both on recovery and on the sensitivity of the subsequent chromatography were also investigated. It was found that the sensitivity required must be considered when the solvent for sample treatment is selected.     

Comparison of supercritical fluid extraction and liquid-liquid extraction for isolation of selected pesticides stored in freeze-dried water samples

Summary The stability of freeze-dried water samples spiked with eight agrochemicals (atrazine, simazine, linuron, carbaryl, propanil, fenitrothion, parathion and fenamiphos) were examined to evaluate their suitability as candidate reference materials for their determination in water samples. In addition, two different extraction procedures, liquid-liquid and supercritical fluid extraction, were compared for the isolation and trace enrichment of target analytes from freeze-dried water samples. Final analytical determinations were by gas chromatography-nitrogen phosphorus detection and electronic impact mass spectrometry, and by liquid chromatography-diode array detection. The whole methodology developed in this paper permitted the determination of pesticides spiked in water at levels varying from 0.03 to 6.9 g L^–1.     

Comparison of gas and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry for the residue analysis of pesticides in organges

Summary Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with electron impact ionization (EI), are compared for the determination of eight pesticides in oranges. Seven of the selected pesticides, chlorpyriphos, chlorpyriphos-methyl, imazalil, α and β-endosulfan, endosulfan sulphate and dicofol, are commonly determined by GC whereas one, thiabendazole, can only be directly determined by LC. Primary ions [M-H]⁻ or [M-Cl+O]⁻ are obtained using LC-APCI-MS in negative ionization (NI) mode. In contrast, a high degree of fragmentation is reported with GC-MS. Both techniques were applied to oranges, which had been previously extracted with ethyl acetate and anhydrous sodium sulphate. The data indicate equivalent detection limits that range from 0.01 to 0.1 mgkg⁻¹ and similar degree of specificity. Mean recoveries ranged from 82% for α-endosulfant to 96% for imazalil, with relative standard deviation ranging from 7 to 17%.     

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.     

HPLC determination of pesticides in green bean samples after SPE clean-up

Summary A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with an acetonitrile-methanol-water mobile phase gradient and photodiode-array detection (DAD) is described for simultaneous determination of 21 pesticides, frequently used in agriculture, of different types, namely organophosphorus, organochlorine,N-methylcarbamates, triazines and phenylureas in vegetable samples. The pesticides were extracted with acetone and then partitioned from the vegetable sample with dichloromethane. Sample clean-up was accomplished by solid-phase extraction (SPE) using both C₁₈ and florisil SPE columns. Average recoveries from green beans ranged from 70.0 to 110.1%. Detection limits of less than 0.1 mg kg^–1 were obtained.     

Ultra-trace analysis of pesticides by solid-phase extraction of surface water with carbopack B cartridges, combined with large-volume injection in gas chromatography

Summary A method has been developed for determination of twenty-four polar pesticides—nine organophosphorus pesticides, thirteen organonitrogen compounds, and two triazine degradation products—in surface water. It entails extraction of the target pesticides from 1-L water samples by solid-phase extraction (SPE), then gas chromatography (GC) with large-volume (40 μL) injection. Filtered surface water, from the St Lawrence River in Canada and the River Loire and its tributaries in France, was extracted on cartridges filled with 500 mg Carbopack B (120–400 mesh). Analysis was performed by gas chromatography with a thermionic specific detector (GC-TSD) and a mass spectrometric (MS) detector. Overall percentage recoveries were satisfactory (>70%) for all target pesticides, with precision below 10%. Detection limits were between 0.5 and 4 ng L⁻¹.     

Development of a sample preparation procedure of sewage sludge samples for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons based on selective pressurized liquid extraction

An automated, simple and sensitive method based on selective pressurized liquid extraction (SPLE) was developed for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sewage sludge samples. The new sample preparation procedure consists of on-line clean-up by inclusion of sorbents in the extraction cell, and combines elevated temperatures and pressures with liquid solvents to achieve fast and efficient removal of target analytes from complex sewage sludge matrices. The effects of various operational parameters (e.g. sample pretreatment, extraction solvent, temperature, pressure, static time, etc.) on the performance of SPLE procedure were carefully investigated, obtaining the best results when SPLE conditions were fixed at 140 °C, 1500 psi, static time of 5 min and n-hexane as extraction solvent. A new programmed temperature vaporization–gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method based on large volume injection (PTV–LVI–GC–MS/MS) was also developed and analytical determinations were performed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with fluorescence detection and GC–MS/MS. The extraction yields for the different compounds obtained by SPLE ranged from 84.8% to 106.6%. Quantification limits obtained for all of these studied compounds (between 0.0001 and 0.005 μg g⁻¹, dry mass) were well below the regulatory limits for all compounds considered. To test the accuracy of the SPLE technique, the optimized methodology was applied to the analysis of a certified reference material (sewage sludge (BCR088)) and a reference material (sewage sludge (RTC-CNS312-04)), with excellent results.     

A simple and inexpensive "solvent in silicone tube extraction" approach and its evaluation in the gas chromatographic analysis of pesticides in fruits and vegetables

A novel, simple, and inexpensive approach to sorptive extraction, which we call solvent in silicone tube extraction (SiSTEx), was applied to pesticide residue analysis and its effectiveness and efficiency were evaluated. In SiSTEx, which is a form of open tubular sorptive extraction, a piece of silicone tubing (4 cm long, 1.47 mm ID, 1.96 mm OD in this study) is attached to the cap of a 20 mL glass vial that contains the aqueous sample. The tubing is plugged at the end dangling in the sample solution, and MeCN (e.g., 40 microL) added by syringe to the inner tube volume through a septum in the cap. A stir-bar is used to mix the sample for a certain time (e.g., 60 min), which allows chemicals to partition into the tubing where they diffuse across the silicone and partition into the MeCN. The final MeCN extract is then analyzed for the concentrated analytes. In this study, the SiSTEx approach was evaluated for the analysis of organophosphorus (OP) and organochlorine (OC) pesticides in fruits and vegetables using GC/pulsed flame photometric (PFPD) and halogen specific (XSD) detectors for analysis. The produced samples were initially extracted by a rapid MeCN procedure, and 5 mL of the initial extract was diluted four-fold with water to undergo sorptive extraction for 60 min. The final extract was analyzed by GC/PFPD + XSD for 14 OP and 22 OC pesticides. This simple approach was able to detect 26 of the 36 pesticides at 10 ng/g or less original equivalent sample concentration with average reproducibility of 11% RSD. For those 26 pesticides, a 44-fold lower detection limit on average was achieved in matrix extracts using SiSTEx despite the four-fold dilution with water.     

Monitoring of pesticides in surface water: Off-line SPE followed by HPLC with UV detection and confirmatory analysis by mass spectrometry

Summary The presence of 16 of the most widely used pesticides in southern Italy (plus atrazine, the use of which is currently restricted in Europe) has been monitored in ten surface waters of the Calabria Region. The analytes were extracted from water by off-line solid-phase extraction with a Carbograph cartridge. Base-neutral, and acid pesticides were then isolated by differential elution. Analyte fractionation and quantification were performed by liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. Recoveries of analytes from 0.5 L river water (200 ngL⁻¹ spike level) were ≥84%. Confirmatory analysis was performed by HPLC coupled with ion-spray mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS).     

Gas and liquid chromatography and enzyme linked immuno sorbent assay in pesticide monitoring of surface water from the western mediterranean (Comunidad Valenciana,Spain)

Summary A monitoring programme based on gas chromatography (NPD, ECD) using MSD for confirmatory purposes and coupled-column liquid chromatography was applied to the analysis of pesticide residues in surface water from a predominantly agricultural area of Spain (Comunidad Valenciana). Samples analysed by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay gave similar results to those obtained by GC (MSD) for the determination of total triazines. The test employed had the advantages of a simple test procedure, short analysis time and high confirmatory value. Nevertheless, the multiresidue character, accuracy and unequivocal identification of individual pesticide residues of GC (MSD) make this technique the most appropriate for environmental monitoring programmes. In this monitoring programme about 200 samples were analysed between 1993–1994. 27 different pesticides were detected in 91 of these samples. The pesticides more frequently detected were dimethoate, methidathion, endosulfan A and B, endosulfan sulphate and pirimicarb. The highest concentrations found were 39.9 g L^–1 of dimethoate, 10.6 of pirimicarb and 10.6 of methidathion.     

Evaluation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes as solid-phase extraction adsorbents of pesticides from agricultural, ornamental and forestal soils

A new, simple and cost-effective method based on the use of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as solid-phase extraction stationary phases is proposed for the determination of a group of seven organophosphorus pesticides (i.e. ethoprophos, diazinon, chlorpyriphos-methyl, fenitrothion, malathion, chlorpyriphos and phosmet) and one thiadiazine (buprofezin) in different kinds of soil samples (forestal, ornamental and agricultural) using gas chromatography with nitrogen phosphorus detection. Soils were first ultrasound extracted with 10 mL 1:1 methanol/acetonitrile (v/v) and the evaporated extract redissolved in 20 mL water (pH 6.0) was passed through 100 mg of MWCNTs of 10-15 nm o.d., 2-6 nm i.d. and 0.1-10 μm length. Elution was carried out with 20 mL dichloromethane. The method was validated in terms of linearity, precision, recovery, accuracy and selectivity. Matrix-matched calibration was carried out for each type of soil since statistical differences between the calibration curves constructed in pure solvent and in the reconstituted soil extract were found for most of the pesticides under study. Recovery values of spiked samples ranged between 54 and 91% for the three types of soils (limits of detection (LODs) between 2.97 and 9.49 ng g⁻¹), except for chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos-methyl and buprofezin which ranged between 12 and 54% (LODs between 3.14 and 72.4 ng g⁻¹), which are the pesticides with the highest soil organic carbon sorption coefficient (K_OC) values. Using a one-sample test (Student's t-test) with fortified samples at two concentration levels in each type of soil, no significant differences were observed between the real and the experimental values (accuracy percentages ranged between 87 and 117%). It is the first time that the adsorptive potential of MWCNTs for the extraction of organophosphorus pesticides from soils is investigated.     

Multiresidue method for the determination of 13 pesticides in three environmental matrices: water, sediments and fish muscle

Pesticides residues in aquatic ecosystems are an environmental concern which requires efficient analytical methods. In this study, we proposed a generic method for the quantification of 13 pesticides (azoxystrobin, clomazone, diflufenican, dimethachlor, carbendazim, iprodion, isoproturon, mesosulfuron-methyl, metazachlor, napropamid, quizalofop and thifensulfuron-methyl) in three environmental matrices. Pesticides from water were extracted using a solid phase extraction system and a single solid-liquid extraction method was optimized for sediment and fish muscle, followed by a unique analysis by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Limits of quantification were below 5 ng L⁻¹ for water (except for fluroxypyr and iprodion) and ranged between 0.1 ng g⁻¹ and 57.7 ng g⁻¹ for sediments and regarding fish, were below 1 ng g⁻¹ for 8 molecules and were determined between 5 and 49 ng g⁻¹ for the 5 other compounds. This method was finally used as a new routine practice for environmental research.     

Gas chromatographic method for studying the rate of photodegradation of some nitrogen-containing pesticides

Summary The photodegradation behaviour of 12 nitrogen-containing herbicides (atrazine, cyanazine, terbuthylazine, terbutryn, EPTC, buthylate, molinate, cycloate, vernolate, fenuron, chloroxuron, and methabenzthiazuron) has been examined. The compounds were degraded completely when exposed to a mercury-vapour lamp; the degradation process was followed by consecutive GC measurements. All the compounds studied had measurable photochemical activity, although actual and average degradation rates varied significantly. All the compounds except terbutryn furnished more than one major degradation product, in different ratios. Presented at Balaton Symposium '01 on High-Performance Separation Methods, Siófok, Hungary, September 2–4, 2001     

Application of capillary gas chromatography to automated on-line quantitative analysis of solvent vapors

Solvent vapors in air may be measured with capillary gas chromatographic columns. By using large diameter columns and sample loops of approximately the same internal diameter, the column may be connected directly to the gas sampling valve. This approach eliminates the use of a splitter or cryogenic trapping and allows low levels to be measured. By operating the column at high velocity, column efficiency is sacrificed for increase in speed.