Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) of the Herbicide Atrazine in Aqueous Soil Suspensions

Abstract

A new method for the direct SPME of atrazine in soil slurries (20 g soil/L) followed by cleaning of the fibre has been developed enabling sequential extraction of at least 15 soil samples with good reproducibility. No relevant interferences were observed using an EC detector at the lowest atrazine concentration examined (<10^–7 mol/L). Good resolution was obtained and the method was linear over the range of concentrations studied (<10^–7–10^–4 mol/L). Data from the SPME-GC method correlate very well with the data from microfiltration-HPLC measurements, suggesting that by both methods the freely dissolved atrazine alone is being measured. Thus a new simple, clean, solventless extraction technique, easily compatible with capillary GC, has been added to the arsenal of methods available for the analysis of less volatile compounds from soils and water bodies with a high content of particulate and humic materials.

Key Words:

• Atrazine
• analysis
• soil
• solid phase microextraction
• SPME
• gas chromatography
• freely dissolved