Rapid screening method for the cause pesticides of acute toxicosis patient by TLC

Abstract

When the patients are carried into hospital and suspected to take pesticides, rapid identification of the intaked pesticides is necessary. We have investigated a rapid and simple screening method for the identification of pesticides in the case of toxicosis in general hospitals using thin layer chromatography (TLC). Thirty common pesticides were selected and analyzed with two developing solvent systems {I. n-hexane: acetone = 4:1 (marker: methyl yellow), II. chloroform: acetone = 9:1 (marker: methyl red)}. In this research, we used the silica gel plate mixed with a fluorescent substance (FM plate, WAKO), on which the pesticide spots emited a peculiar color by UV irradiation. This method does not need any toxic reagents or a draft chamber. Nineteen pesticides were detected with small detection limits of less than 0.5 μg and eleven pesticides were with those of 2.5-25 μg. These detectable limits were adequate for the screening. Standard deviations of Rf values were very small. Pesticides added to water or synthetic gastric juice were efficiently recovered, and the time taken for the analysis was 1-1.5 h.