Micro liquid–liquid extraction of synthetic pyrethroids from surface waters for liquid-chromatographic determination

Abstract

A micro liquid–liquid extraction (MLLE) flask designed for the extraction of bioavailable synthetic pyrethroids from agricultural and ground water samples is used. The method is simple, rapid, and reproducible. Extracts are analyzed off-line by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). A volume of 100 µL n-hexane is sufficient for recovery of the three pyrethroids from 100 mL water. Further clean-up is not required before injection into HPLC. The method is linear in the range of 0.5 to 1000 µg L⁻¹. The method detection limits (MDLs) are in the range of 0.05 to 0.08 µg L⁻¹; recoveries range from 84.7 to 94.5% and enrichment factors from 1058 to 1181. Real surface water samples were analyzed to check the applicability of the proposed method. Cypermethrin (CYP) was detected in agricultural water samples.

Keywords:

• micro liquid–liquid extraction
• synthetic pyrethroids
• pesticides
• agricultural water
• HPLC

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Erratum

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr J.S. Yadav, Director, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, for encouragement and permission to communicate the results for publication.