Gas chromatographic determination of organochlorine pesticides in cow milk

Abstract

A gas chromatographic method of use in determining the following organochlorine pesticides in cow milk has been adapted and validated: α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH), β-HCH, lindane, δ-HCH, hexachlorobenzene, aldrin, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, mirex, 2,4-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (2,4-DDT), 4,4-DDT, 2,4-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (2,4-DDD), 4,4-DDD, 2,4-dichlorodiphenylethane (2,4-DDE) and 4,4-DDE. The method studied consists of three steps: the extraction of fat by centrifugation, mixing with anhydrous sodium sulfate, and transfer to a glass column and elution with hexane; purification of the extract via concentrated sulfuric acid treatment; and determination of the organochlorine pesticides by gas chromatography equipped with an electron capture detector. The analytical parameters determined to estimate the quality of the method yielded the following results: correlation coefficients (r) of the calibration curves were greater than 0.996, the variation coefficients of the response factors were less than 4.90%—with the exception of aldrin (5.53%) and lindane (5.75%)—the relative standard deviation of the slope (S_m rel) being ≤1.52%. Zero was included in the confidence limits of the independent term range. The method repeatability and reproducibility values were ≤4.73% and ≤5.79%, respectively. The recovery values of the pesticides analyzed were in the range of 81.92% (α-HCH) to 105.49% (4,4-DDT), except in the case of aldrin and heptachlor epoxide, which yielded recovery values of under 40%. The quantification limits of the method were ≤1 ng/g, with the exception of mirex (5 ng/g).