Simultaneous determination of four triazines in soil by isotope dilution mass spectrometry using ¹³C-labeled triazines as internal standards

ABSTRACT

Triazide herbicides were widely used in China. Triazine herbicides belong to the environmental hormone and mainly affect the endocrine system, which have potential carcinogenic effects. Low content of triazine compounds in the environment was detected by isotope dilution mass spectrometry more sensitive and accurate than others. Therefore, prometryn-¹³C₃, simetryn-¹³C₃, terbuthylazine-¹³C₃ and terbutryn-¹³C₃ were first successfully synthesised with good yield and high purity. A reliable and sensitive isotope-labelled internal standard method was developed for simultaneous determination of prometryn, simetryn, terbuthylazine and terbutryn in soil using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was developed. Isotope-labelled internal standards could effectively overcome the matrix effect. The recoveries in the soil at three spiking levels (10, 20, 50 μg·kg⁻¹) ranged from 92.3% to 105.2%, with all relative standard deviations being less than 9.6% for all analytes. The limits of detection and the limits of quantification were below 0.06 and 0.2 μg·kg⁻¹, respectively. The method was demonstrated to be convenient and accurate for the routine monitoring of prometryn, simetryn, terbuthylazine and terbutryn in the soil to provide a reference to the environmental management of China.

KEYWORDS:

• Isotope dilution mass spectrometry
• triazine compounds
• synthesis
• ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFD0200201) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31772175, 31621064).