Determination of N-Methylcarbamate Pesticides in Vegetables by Solid-phase Extraction and Pressurized Capillary Electrochromatography

Introduction Capillary electrochromatography(CEC) is a hybrid technique that couples the good selectivity of high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and the high separation efficiency of capillary electrophoresis(CE).Both charged and uncharged compou…     

Multidetermination of PCBs and pesticides by use of a dual GC column-dual detector system

Summary A new gas chromatographic method involving the use of two capillary columns, a switching valvue and electron capture-nitrogen-phosphorus detection, and allowing up to four retention characteristics per component to be obtained is reported.The proposed method was applied to the analysis for 123 compounds (13 PCBs and 110 pesticides), the determination limits and optimal measuring ranges of which are reported.The performance of the method was checked by analysis of certified standards and spiked samples, and was applied to the determination of the analytes in various water samples.     

High efficiency packed column supercritical fluid chromatography of sulfonylurea herbicides and metabolites from large water samples

Summary Five sulfonylurea herbicides were separated by SFC on both a 25 cm and a 1.6 meter packed column. The former produced rapid analysis, the latter allowed high resolution of a complex mixture containing the solutes of interest. The solutes were simultaneously detected with UV, nitrogen-phosphorus (NPD), and electron capture (ECD) detectors. Peaks of breakdown products of sulfonylureas were characterized by their UV spectra and the presence or absence of nitrogen and chlorine from their NPD and ECD response. Both parent and breakdown products of sulfonylureas were on-line extracted from large water samples with detection limits as low as 50 parts per trillion.     

Analysis of pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables by matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) and different gas chromatography element-selective detectors

Summary A comparison between different element selective detectors for the determination of organophosphorus and organochlorine pesticide residues, from fruit and vegetables, was performed by capillary GC with electron capture detector (ECD), nitrogen phosphorus detector (NPD), flame photometric detector (FPD) in the sulphur and phosphorus modes, and mass spectrometry detector (MSD) in selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Pesticides were extracted from the different foodstuffs by Matrix Solid Phase Dispersion (MSPD). Recoveries of 41–108 % with relative standard deviation of 2–14 % in the concentration range 0.5–10 μg L⁻¹ were obtained in oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pears, plums, lettuces and tomatoes. The results demonstrated that the extracts of all the samples can be analyzed by the detectors used since no interfering co-extracted compounds were detected.     

Fourier transform infrared spectrometric strategies for the determination of Buprofezin in pesticide formulations

Two different strategies for Buprofezin determination, an off-line extraction and stopped-flow determination and an automated procedure, based on the on-line extraction of Buprofezin samples with chloroform and flowing action analysis-fourier transform infrared (FIA-FT-IR) spectrometric measurement of the extracts, have been developed. For the treatment of the off-line extraction mode, data a three-factor partial least squares (PLSs) calibration was developed, using the region from 1465.7 to 1342.3 cm⁻¹ with a single point baseline defined at 2051.9 cm⁻¹ and based on the use of chloroform solutions of Buprofezin. The method provides a R.S.D. <0.1%, recoveries of the order of 100% and generates 25 ml of CHCl₃ waste for each sample.On the other hand, the recommended FIA method provided a 3 s limit of detection of 20 μg ml⁻¹, which corresponds to 0.12% (w/w) in the solid sample, a repeatability of 0.8% as R.S.D., and a maximum sampling frequency for the whole procedure of 6 h⁻¹.The waste generation, being lower than the off-line strategy, is only 3 ml of CHCl₃ per sample.     

Determination of organophosphorus pesticide residues in fruits by gas chromatography with ITD and NPD detection

Summary Several widely used organophosphorus insecticides, diazinon, methyl-parathion, fenitrothion, malathion, fenthion and methidathion were selected for inclusion in this work. A comparative study of the multiresidue determination of these compounds in citrus fruit and grapes has been carried out by gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus and ion trap detection. Samples were spiked with 0.1, 0.5 and 1 mg kg^–1 of each pesticide and blended in a Sorvall homogeniser with ethyl acetate. Column clean-up on Florisil was necessary for citrus peel extracts. The average recoveries varied from 81 to 107% with a relative standard deviation between 0.3 and 9.5% for GC-ITD and from 86 to 104% with a relative standard deviation ranging from 1.4 to 8.0% for GC-NPD. The detection limit of the method was 10 ng g^–1 or less for each organophosphorus insecticide, with both detectors. This method was applied to the analysis of treated lemons and 0.25 mg kg^–1 of fenitrothion in fruit was detected a week after treatment and identified by its mass spectrum. The results obtained showed that the proposed methods are reproducible and sensitive enough for the simultaneous determination of these insecticides in fruits at residue level.     

UV-visible absorption spectra and luminescence of the pesticide fenarimol

The UV-visible absorption and emission spectra have been measured of the pesticide fenarimol ((±)-2,4′-dichloro-α-(pyrimidin-5-yl)-benzhydryl alcohol) in solution. From comparison with the spectra of chlorotoluenes and pyrimidine, and from the effect of solvent polarity on the absorption spectrum, it is shown that the lowest excited singlet state is localized on the pyrimidine ring, and has n,π* character. Higher excited π,π* states are localized on both chlorotoluene and pyrimidine rings. Fenarimol shows a weak, fluorescence from the n,π* state, with a quantum yield which is strongly dependent on solvent. It is shown that this is due to changes in the nonradiative decay rate, particularly in protic solvents, due to increased intersystem crossing. Phosphorescence is observed in low temperature glasses. Although this shows two decay components, it is suggested that only one triplet state is involved, and that this has predominantly π,π* character.     

Reliability of measurements of pesticide residues in food

This paper accounts for the major sources of errors associated with pesticide residue analysis and illustrates their magnitude based on the currently available information. The sampling, sample processing and analysis may significantly influence the uncertainty and accuracy of analytical data. Their combined effects should be considered in deciding on the reliability of the results. In the case of plant material, the average random sampling (coefficient of variation, CV=28–40%) and sample processing (CV up to 100%) errors are significant components of the combined uncertainty of the results. The average relative uncertainty of the analytical phase alone is about 17–25% in the usual 0.01–10 mg/kg concentration range. The major contributor to this error can be the gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis especially close to the lowest calibrated level. The expectable minimum of the combined relative standard uncertainty of the pesticide residue analytical results is in the range of 33–49% depending on the sample size.The gross and systematic errors may be much larger than the random error. Special attention is required to obtain representative random samples and to eliminate the loss of residues during sample preparation and processing.     

硅胶活性碳柱净化-气相色谱法测定茶叶中多种有机磷农药残留量

介绍了应用配有FPD检测器的气相色谱仪测定茶叶中有机磷农药残留量的新方法。磨碎的试样加入少量氯化钠，用水浸泡，再用乙腈提取。活性炭和硅胶混合小柱净化，乙酸乙酯洗脱。以GC-FPD测定，外标法定量，测定结果用不同极性的毛细管柱验证。方法准确，重现性、精密度好，杂质干扰少。有机磷农药检出限小于欧盟对茶叶的MRL值。     

Deconvolution and quantitation of unresolved mixtures in liquid chromatographic-diode array detection using evolving factor analysis

Summary A recently developed self-modeling curve resolution method based in different factor analysis techniques has been applied for the first time to the study of liquid-chromatography-diode array data under situation where the separation of two components is not achieved. Two applications are reported: the resolution and quantitation of a coeluted mixture of carbamate pesticides pirimicarb and 1-naphthol, and the estimation of the concentration profiles of the double peak obtained in the elution of the triazine metabolite chlorodiamino-s-triazine. Different methods of quantitation are compared, including Evolving Factor Analysis and Rank annihilation. Quantitation from the area of the elution profiles once the component spectra have been transformed for their area contribution to the signal, gives a relative composition for pirimicarb and naphthol pesticides which agrees with the known sample composition. In the case of the unknown triazine mixture, an approximate quantitation of the two peaks obtained for this metabolite is obtained by assuming equal signal contribution or equal maximum absorbance of the individual spectra of the two detected components.