Herbicides By LCMS

Vesna Furtula¹*, Jen-ni Kuo², Randy Englar^1
1Pacific Environmental Science Centre, Environment Canada
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
²Commercial Chemicals Division, Environmental Protection Branch, Environment Canada
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

A simple, very efficient method is presented for routine analysis of herbicides bromacil and diuron in soil samples. For soil samples two different extraction techniques were compared: microwave-assisted solvent extraction and a shaking technique using a platform shaker. Extracts were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography using a water : methanol gradient. Liquid chromatography was coupled with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (LC-APCI-MS) for quantitation of bromacil and diuron. Optimization of the APCI-MS was done by using standards in the flow injection analysis mode (FIA). Method detection limit for soil samples is 0.01 µg/g dry weight for both compounds analyzed. Results of analysis of real samples of soil are also presented.