Determination of Amitraz Pesticide by Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry on the Hanging Mercury Drop Electrode

 A sensitive method for the determination of amitraz pesticide at nanomolar level by adsorptive stripping voltammetry at a hanging mercury drop electrode is described. The cyclic voltammograms demonstrate the adsorption of this compound on the mercury electrode. A systematic study of the various experimental parameters, that affect the stripping response, was carried out by differential pulse voltammetry. Using an accumulation potential of −0.50 V, and 30 s accumulation time, the limit of detection was found to be 2.3 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹ and the relative standard deviations (n = 5) was 2.2% at concentration level of 5.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹ of amitraz. The influence of diverse ions and some other pesticides was investigated. Finally, the method was applied to the determination of amitraz in spiked soil and water. The relative standard deviation is 4.5% for 5 determinations of amitraz in water and 3.2% for 5 determinations in soil. Received December 6, 2000. Revision March 1, 2001.