Utilisation of polypyrrole modified electrode for the determination of pesticides

Cyclic voltammetric studies of isoproturon and carbendazim using polypyrrole modified glassy carbon electrode were carried out. The electrode and reaction conditions, which yielded maximum current signal, were selected for the development of stripping voltammetric procedure for the determination of the pesticides. The oxidation peak around 1.3?V obtained for isoproturon and carbendazim while employing polypyrrole modified electrode showed maximum current response. This peak was chosen for stripping analysis using square wave mode. The experimental parameters were optimized and the calibration plot was obtained. The LOD was 0.5?ng?mL^?1 for isoproturon and 5?ng?mL^?1 for carbendazim. The relative standard deviation for 5 identical measurements was 2.81% and 3.33% for isoproturon and carbendazim respectively. The applicability of the method was verified by determining the pesticides in spiked soil and water samples.     

Transport of Pesticides Under Aquifer Conditions

Abstract

Pesticide transport was determined in a quarternary coarse grained aquifer which was characterized by low organic carbon content. Water spiked with the pesticides atrazine, chlortoluron, isoproturon, simazine and terbuthylazine and chloride salt as conservative tracer, was injected in the aquifer. Mean residence times (MRT) of pesticides were generally 1.5 to 3 times higher than the MRT of the tracer. Sediment retention capacity calculated from experimental data yielded generally small values below 250 ng/kg sediment. Retardation characteristics were in the order of magnitude expected from literature data on organic carbon/water partition coefficients. Transport of pesticides was due to convection and dispersion whereas adsorption and degradation was low.     

Phenylurea and Triazine Herbicides in the Garonne River (France) During High Flood and Low Water Periods

Abstract

Phenylureas and triazines were analysed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography using UV detection at 254 nm after an on-line preconcentration step on a PRP-1 copolymer in order to determine pesticides in river water at μg/1 level or lower. Running water was sampled in the Garonne from a station located at La Réole, upstream from Bordeaux and from a small tributary, the Dropt. Water samples were collected mainly at several periods between December 1989 and September 1990 at a low water time (December 1989) and during two high flood periods (February 1990 and May 1990). Atrazine, simazine, de-ethylatiazine, diuron, chlortoluron and isoproturon were detected and quantified. In the Garonne river, atrazine, simazine, de-ethylatrazine and diuron were usually present at the sampling time, whereas chlortoluron and isoproturon maximised during the winter flood (February). In the Dropt river, triazine concentrations were normally between 1.0 and 0.1 μg/1 and maximised at 2.2 μg/1 during the spring flood (June 1990). De-ethylatrazine/(Atrazine + Simazine) ratio seems to be significantly higher than in the Mississippi river and may be in relation to the use of simazine in the drainage basin. These data are in agreement with seasonal applications of phenylurea and triazine herbicides and hydrologic and pluviometric conditions.     

Gas chromatographic behaviour of urea herbicides

Summary Gas chromatographic conditions for determining eight phenylurea (chlortoluron, diuron, fluometuron, isoproturon, linuron, metabenzthiazuron, metobromuron and monuron) and one sulfonylurea (chlorsulfuron) herbicides were assessed. Degradation products of the herbicides formed in the injector were used for identification. Most phenylureas formed their respective carbamic acid methyl esters, metabenzthiazuron formed an aminobenzothiazol and chlorsulfuron formed an aminotriazine plus a phenylsulfonamide. On-column injection of standards using a BP10 capillary column was evaluated to identify the chromatographic behaviour. Detection limits ranged from 0.05 ng for chlorsulfuron to 3 ng for monuron with the NPD and, from 0.01 ng for chlorsulfuron to 5 ng for metabenzthiazuron with the ECD. The RSDs (n=4) were lower than 4% at the 12–25 ng level. The method was applied to the analysis of surface waters extracted with C18 Empore disks with recoveries higher than 85%. Each herbicide could be determined in water down to 0.1 μg·L⁻¹. Chlortoluron was found (11.4 μg·L⁻¹) in a water sample and its presence was confimed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.     

Ultra-pressure liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry for multiresidue determination of pesticides in water

A multiresidue analysis method has been developed for the determination of pesticides in water by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) combined with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The selected pesticides represent a broad range of polarity and volatility [benzoylcyclohexanedione (mesotrione and sulcotrione); chloroacetamide (acetochlor, alachlor, dimethenamide, and metolachlor); phenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D and MCPA); phenoxypropionic (dichloprop and mecoprop); phenylurea (chlortoluron, diuron, isoproturon, linuron, and metoxuron); sulfonylurea (foramsulfuron, iodosulfuron, and nicolsulfuron); triazine (atrazine, cyanazine, desethylatrazine (DEA), desisopropylatrazine (DIA), simazine, and terbutylazine)]. The analytes were extracted using solid-phase extraction (SPE). The separation was carried out on an acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (1.7 microm, 50 mm x 1 mm ID) using a gradient elution profile and mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid in water and acetonitrile. The pesticides were detected with a tandem mass spectrometer after being ionised positively or negatively (depending on the molecule) using an electrospray ionisation (ESI) source. To achieve the suitable extraction conditions for sample preparation, several parameters affecting the efficiency of SPE such as the nature of the sorbent and the eluent, extractant volume and pH were studied. The best recovery was obtained by the extraction with an Oasis HLB cartridge and 3 mL of a solution of acetonitrile/dichloromethane (1:1, v/v) at pH 2. The average recoveries of the pesticides in different samples ranged from 82 to 109%. The weight least squares (WLS) linear regression was used to calculate the limits of detection and quantification (LOD and LOQ) because the dispersion was heteroskedastic. All the pesticides could be correctly quantified at a concentration level of 50 ng L(-1) and most of them could be detected at a concentration inferior or equal to 8 ng L(-1). Efficiency and robustness of this method were evaluated by the analysis of several samples of real natural water.     

An On-line Admicellar SPE-HPLC System Using CTAB-Modified Zeolite NaY as Sorbent for Determination of Carbamate Pesticides in Water

Zeolite NaY modified with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was considered for extraction/preconcentration of carbamate pesticides using an on-line SPE-HPLC system. The simultaneous determination of carbamate pesticides, including aldicarb, carbofuran, carbaryl, isoprocarb, methiocarb and promecarb, was performed by HPLC–UV using a LichroCART RP-18 column with gradient elution of methanol and 0.1 % acetic acid. The sorbent presented admicelles of CTAB on its surfaces and exhibited a sorption capacity of 180–18,600 mg kg⁻¹ sorbent, which could be re-modified for at least five extraction cycles. The quantitative retention of target pesticides on the admicellar sorbent involved hydrophobic and π-cation interaction, while pesticides were eluted from the admicellar SPE column using only 750 μL of methanol. LODs and LOQs of the proposed method were 0.005–140 and 0.02–600 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The analytes were effectively concentrated with the enrichment factors between 5 and 551. The developed on-line admicellar SPE-HPLC system was successfully applied to the determination of carbamate pesticides in ten environmental water samples from different sources. Recoveries of spiked samples at a concentration of 0.1–5 mg L⁻¹ ranged from 77 to 111 %.

     

Capillary liquid chromatography with off-line mid-IR and Raman micro-spectroscopic detection: analysis of chlorinated pesticides at ppb levels

A flow-through microdispenser was used as a solvent elimination interface, allowing vibrational spectroscopic detection in capillary liquid chromatography in addition to standard UV detection. Using a flow-through microdispenser, robust and stable deposition of picoliter-sized droplets on a CaF₂ plate window was achieved. The CaF₂ window was placed on a thermostated sample holder (80 °C) mounted on a computerized x, y stage for achieving fast solvent evaporation and enabling recording of the chromatogram as a trace of deposited material. The dried residues that were formed had diameters of a few tens of micrometers and were analysed by mid-IR and Raman micro-spectroscopy. Conditions were optimized for high sensitivity of measurement and maintaining chromatographic resolution during the deposition step. Due to the destruction-free character of Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, these techniques could be applied sequentially to interrogate the same deposits. To test the usefulness of the methodology for environmental analysis, the determination and unambiguous identification of chlorinated pesticides (chlortoluron, diuron, atrazine, and terbuthylazine) in river water was used as an example, obtaining limits of identification of 2 ng analyte on-column and precision of approximately 10% RSD. The application of the developed method to spiked real river samples demonstrated the identification power of the proposed method as, in addition to the four previously studied pesticides, two additional pesticides (simazine and isoproturon) could also be detected and identified.     

Evaluation and characterization of a commercial immunosorbent cartridge for the solid-phase extraction of phenylureas from aqueous matrices

The behavior and main characteristics of a commercial immunosorbent (IS) cartridge for the solid-phase extraction of phenylureas are determined in this work. The measured capacity for the analyte-antigen (isoproturon) in a new cartridge is 215 ng and, after more than 100 adsorption-desorption cycles, the remaining capacity still is approximately 70 ng, demonstrating the good stability of the bonded antibody and the interesting possibility of extensive cartridge reuse. Only isoproturon and diuron are specifically retained in this sorbent. The weak nonspecific retention of other pesticides, including other phenylureas, can be avoided by increasing the sample volume during the loading step. Thus, a very selective and sensitive method for the determination of isoproturon and diuron in natural and potable waters is developed by loading a 50-mL sample adjusted to pH 7.4 in the IS cartridge, eluting with methanol-water (60:40, v/v), and analyzing the eluate by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. The clean chromatograms, low detection limits (approximately 0.1 micro g/L), and good precision (< 5%) obtained with this rapid and simple method demonstrate that immunoaffinity extraction can be an excellent alternative for sample preparation in the environmental monitoring of particular pesticides in water matrices.     

Utilization of Carbon Paste Electrodes for the Voltammetric Determination of Chlortoluron

Conventional (CPE) and miniaturized (m‐CPE) carbon paste electrodes consisting of a carbon paste filled capillary were used for differential pulse voltammetric determination of chlortoluron in samples of river water and soil, in the latter case after the extraction by methanol. Britton‐Robinson buffer pH 3 with low content of methanol was found to be optimal for the determination. The achieved determination limits were 2.8 µmol L^?1 and 0.34 µmol L^?1 in river water, and 3.1 and 4.3 µg g^?1 in soil, using CPE and m‐CPE, respectively.     

Automatic HPLC-UV determination of domoic acid in mussels and algae

Summary A rapid and sensitive automatic method is presented for the determination of domoic acid (DA) using HPLC with a column-switching system and UV-detection. Interfering peaks resulting from matrix protein components are excluded by use of an especially designed reversed-phase HPLC column for pre-separation. The method is suitable for extracts both from mussels and from algae. Sample material is extracted with pure water and the crude extract is injected directly. Application of a column-switching system eliminates the need for any further sample clean-up after extraction. Presented at the 21^st ISC held in Stuttgart, Germany, 15^th–20^th September, 1996     

Liquid chromatographic determination of fluvastatin and its enantiomers in blood plasma by automated solid-phase extraction

Summary Liquid chromatographic methods for determination of fluvastatin, as racemate and asseparated enantiomers, are described. Fluvastatin is an anticholesterolemic agent that inhibits the rate limiting enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis. The sample clean-up was fully automated, using solid-phase extraction. Plasma samples were injected onto disposable C2 cartridges, connected on-line with the analytical column. After washing, the analytes were eluted and transferred to a C8-analytical column for racemate determination or to a Chiralcel OD-R column for enantiomer separation. Analytes were monitored by fluorescence detection after post-column exposure of the eluate to UV light, which enhanced the sensitivity 20-fold for fluvastatin and 10-fold for the enantiomers. Absolute recoveries were >90% both for the recemate and enantiomers. Limits of quantitation were 0.5 nM for the racemente and 1 nM for enantiomers, using 200 μL plasma sample. Presented at the 21^st ISC held in Stuttgart, Germany, 15^th–20^th September, 1996     

A multi-residue method for characterization and determination of atmospheric pesticides measured at two French urban and rural sampling sites

The extensive use of pesticides to protect agricultural crops can result in the transfer of these compounds into the atmosphere and their diffusion towards urban areas. Precise evaluation of the geographic impact of this type of pollution is important environmentally. In this paper, analytical methods for the sampling, characterization, and determination of agricultural pesticides in air were developed; the methods were then applied in the Paris and Champagne regions. Sixteen pesticides belonging to nine chemical families were monitored. Sampling was carried out in urban (Paris) and rural (Aube district) sites, utilizing either a high-volume pump (12.5 m³ h^–1) (urban site) or a low-volume pump (2.3 m³ h^–1) for the rural site. Quartz filters and polyurethane foams (PUF) were used for sampling in all cases. After extracting the samples and concentrating the recovered solutions, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis with UV detection was performed. Identification of the pesticides was confirmed by applying to the HPLC measurements a novel UV-detection procedure based on the normalized absorbance variation with wavelength (Noravawa procedure). The presence of metsulfuron methyl, isoproturon, linuron, deltamethrin (and/or malathion), and chlorophenoxy acids (2,4-D and MCPP) was found at the urban sampling site at levels ranging from about 1 to 1130 ng m^–3 of air, depending on the compound and sampling period. On the rural sampling site residues of isoproturon, deltamethrin (and/or malathion), MCPP, and 2,4-D were generally detected at higher levels (19–5130 ng m^–3) than on the urban site, as expected. The effects of the weather conditions and agricultural activity on the atmospheric concentrations of pesticides are discussed, as are long-range atmospheric transfer processes for these pesticides.     

Analysis of isoproturon at trace level by solid phase competitive fluoroimmunosensing after enrichment in a sol-gel immunosorbent

Isoproturon was extracted selectively from environmental materials (water samples) using an immunosorbent column containing anti-isoproturon antibodies encapsulated in a silica matrix by a sol-gel process. A phosphate buffered saline (PBS) conditioned immunosorbent column was used to on-line preconcentrate 5 ml well and tap water containing 0.05 μg l⁻¹ of isoproturon, which were desorbed with 75 μl of citric acid and determined with a solid phase competitive fluoroimmunoassay. The solid phase of the immunosensor, consisting of a sol-gel glass doped with anti-isoproturon monoclonal antibody, was placed on the flow-cell of the spectrofluorometer. Free isoproturon in solution competed with a fluorescent conjugated isoproturon and reduced the support bonded fluorescence in a concentration-dependent manner. The on-line method has a detection limit of 9.7 ng l⁻¹, relative standard deviation of 4 and 3% for 0.05 and 0.5 μg l⁻¹, respectively, and recoveries higher than 90% for tap and well water. For comparison the off-line extraction and clean up using a C18 cartridge is also reported.     

Evaluation of a mixed immunosorbent for selective trace enrichment of phenylurea herbicides from plant material

A mixed immunosorbent, composed of anti-isoproturon and anti-chlortoluron antibodies immobilized on aldehyde-activated silica was evaluated for the trace enrichment and clean-up of several phenylurea herbicides from potatoes, carrots and peas. As the immunosorbent exhibited non-specific interactions with the matrix components, a previous clean-up step based on gel filtration (Sephadex G-25 PD-10 column) or anion-exchange (Power 1 × 8 Dionex column) was necessary. The coupling of gel filtration and immunosorbent with subsequent HPLC/UV determination allowed the determination of selected herbicides in potatoes in the 30 ng/g range with high precision, but for more complex samples (carrots and peas) the combination of anion-exchange resin and immunosorbent was required. With 30 ng/g spiked samples recovery rates for isoproturon, chlortoluron, metobromuron, linuron and chlorbromuron averaged 80 ± 20% (n = 5 in two consecutive days) for the whole procedure and the estimated detection limits ranged from 5 to 20 ng/g.     

Determination of biogenic amines in fermented beverages and vinegars by pre-column derivatization withpara-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl chloride (PNZ-Cl) and reversed-phase LC

Summary The reagentp-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl chloride (PNZ-CI) was used for pre-column derivatization of biogenic amines (BAs) at ambient temperature followed by reversed-phase, liquid-chromatographic separation of the derivatives. Optimized derivatization of samples was achieved within 10 min in borate buffer by adding PNZ-Cl in acetonitrile (MeCN). Excess reagent was scavenged by subsequent addition of glycine in water. For LC a Superspher^? RP-18e column and gradient elution using a ternary gradient system containing sodium acetabe buffer (pH 6.1), sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.3) and MeCN, were used. The PNZ-derivatives were quantified by their UV-absorption at 265 nm. Detection limits of BAs were approximately 62–1000 μg L⁻¹ (injected amounts: 53–850 pg) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1. The coefficients of determination were 0.9906–0.9992. Diaminohexane was used as internal standard. Recoveries of BAs ranged from 78–93% depending on the food matrix. This method was applied to the quantitative determination of 2-phenylethylamine, tryptamine, serotonin, putrescine, histamine, cadaverine, tyramine, spermidine, and spermine, in beer, wine, vinegars, and lactic fermented cabbage juice. Parts of the results were presented at the 35th Congress of the “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ern?hrung”, Kiel, 19^th–20^th March 1998, and the “Regionaltagung der Lebensmittelchemiker”, Giessen, 9^th–10^th March 1998     

Ultraviolet Photo-Induced Fluorescence Followed by Laser Excitation (UV-PIF-LE) for the Determination of Pesticides in Natural Waters

Abstract

A new method was developed for determining trace amounts of pesticides, using an ultraviolet (UV) lamp to obtain photo-induced fluorescent (PIF) compounds, and then using laser excitation (LE) by a tunable source to excite and simultaneously characterize their fluorescence over a short acquisition time using an intensified charge-coupled device camera. This new UV-PIF-LE method was applied to determine isoproturon, oxadiazon, and fipronil in natural waters. This approach represents an improvement on the previously published direct laser photo-induced fluorescent (DL-PIF) approach that utilized the inclusion of a supplementary UV irradiation device in the experimental setup, permitting the separation of the formation and detection steps for the PIF analytes. This evolution improves the selectivity and increases the sensitivity while maintaining a short analysis time. The UV-PIF-LE method gave very good results with satisfactory analytical performance for the determination of the selected pesticides. This approach also demonstrated good reproducibility, with relative square deviation values between 3.3% and 6.3%, for spiked river water and seawater samples with detection limits in the ng mL^?1 range.     

Evaluation of a mixed immunosorbent for selective trace enrichment of phenylurea herbicides from plant material

A mixed immunosorbent, composed of anti-isoproturon and anti-chlortoluron antibodies immobilized on aldehyde-activated silica was evaluated for the trace enrichment and clean-up of several phenylurea herbicides from potatoes, carrots and peas. As the immunosorbent exhibited non-specific interactions with the matrix components, a previous clean-up step based on gel filtration (Sephadex G-25 PD-10 column) or anion-exchange (Power 1 × 8 Dionex column) was necessary. The coupling of gel filtration and immunosorbent with subsequent HPLC/UV determination allowed the determination of selected herbicides in potatoes in the 30 ng/g range with high precision, but for more complex samples (carrots and peas) the combination of anion-exchange resin and immunosorbent was required. With 30 ng/g spiked samples recovery rates for isoproturon, chlortoluron, metobromuron, linuron and chlorbromuron averaged 80 ± 20% (n = 5 in two consecutive days) for the whole procedure and the estimated detection limits ranged from 5 to 20 ng/g. Received: 29 January 1998 / Revised: 4 May 1998 / Accepted: 30 May 1998     

Analysis of organic pollutants in water at trace levels using fully automated solid-phase extraction coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography

Summary A method has been developed for the determination of trace levels of 32 pesticides, 19 explosives and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in water in three individual steps. Solid-phase enrichment (SPE) is coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fully automated system. The organic pollutants are enriched on reusable cartridges packed with adsorbent materials: pesticides and explosives on a mixed bed of divinylbenzene-ethylvinylbenzene copolymers (LiChrolut EN^?) and perfluorinated polyethylene (PolyF^?), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on C₁₈-modified silica (Zorbax^? ODS1). Thermally assisted desorption (TAD) has been shown to increase the recovery of analytes significantly. As all enriched analytes are transferred to the detector, only fifty millilitres of sample is needed for each single on-line analysis, compared with at least a litre for conventional methods. The separation of the enriched organic analytes is performed on specialized HPLC columns based on reversed-phase materials. The limits of detection of the system employed were found to be below 100 ng L⁻¹. Use of fluorescence detection for the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons resulted in limits of detection in the upper pg L⁻¹ range. Thek values, number of theoretical plates, the recovery rates and the limits of detection of this method for fast screening of organic pollutants from three fifty-millilitre aqueous samples are described. Presented at the 21^st ISC held in Stuttgart, Germany, 15^th–20^th September, 1996     

Determination of 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate in tuberculin solutions by planar and high performance liquid chromatography

Summary TLC and HPLC methods for the determination of the preservative, 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate in PPD-T tuberculin solution were developed. The planar chromatography method involved separation of 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate on a TLC plate using a butyl-acetate: formic acid: 2-propanol mobile phase, detection and quantitation by densitometric scanning. The HPLC method was on a LiChrosorb RP-18 column with acetonitrile-water (65:35 v/v) mobile phase, adjusted to pH 3.05 by phosphoric acid. Linearity, reproducibility and accuracy were found to be satisfactory. Under selected conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) of both methods was similar-about 25 ng. Presented at the 21^st ISC held in Stuttgart, Germany, 15^th–20^th September, 1996     

基于三聚氰胺膜电催化与酶催化放大的分子印迹电化学传感器测定绿麦隆

以三聚氰胺(MA)作为功能单体, 制备了一种检测环境中农药残留绿麦隆(CH)的分子印迹膜电化学传感器. 基于CH与辣根过氧化物酶(HRP)标记绿麦隆(HRP-CH)的竞争反应实现对CH的检测. 利用聚三聚氰胺膜(PMA)和HRP对过氧化氢的催化效应产生的双放大效应有效地提高传感器检测的灵敏度. 采用计时电流法测量, CH浓度与峰电流差值在0.01～0.8 μmol/L范围内呈现良好的线性关系, 检出限为2.64 nmol/L. 传感器对CH具有很好的选择识别性能.