Role of different salts on cloud-point extraction of isoprocarb and promecarb insecticides followed by high-performance liquid chromatography

The influence of salt additive on cloud point extraction (CPE) of isoprocarb and promecarb insecticides is described. Types of salt (Na(2)CO(3), CaCl(2), MgSO(4), Na(2)SO(4), NaHCO(3) and NaCl) and concentrations were studied. The extracted target compounds were analyzed using reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Among the salts studied, Na(2)CO(3) was found to be the most effective salt for salting out of both insecticides, resulting in high extraction efficiency (>95%) and high enrichment factor of up to 18 compared to extraction without preconcentration. The optimum CPE conditions were 1.5% (w/v) Triton X-114, 3.0% (w/v) Na(2)CO(3), and 20-min equilibration at 45°C. Under the selected conditions, the linear range of 0.05 to 3.0 mg/L was found for both analytes. The limits of detection for isoprocarb and promecarb were 10 and 20 μg/L, respectively. High intra-day (n = 9) and inter-day (n = 3 × 4 days) precisions with relative standard deviations <1% and <8% were obtained for retention time and peak area, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the residue analysis of target compounds in beverages (i.e., fruit juice, vegetable juice and wine samples), which provided high recoveries (>80%, on average) for spiked samples at three levels (0.05, 0.10 and 0.50 mg/L).