Methyl salicylate: An alternative extraction solvent for dispersive-liquid-liquid microextraction of benzimidazole fungicides in water samples followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis

Abstract

Methyl salicylate based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method of benzimidazole fungicides (i.e., carbendazim, thiabendazole and fluberidazole) in water samples and analysis by high performance liquid chromatography has been firstly developed. The target fungicides in aqueous sample were extracted under the selected conditions of 250 μL of methyl salicylate without disperser solvent and 1.0% (m/v) sodium acetate without pH adjustment. The preconcentration factor and extraction recovery were obtained in the range of 24-38 and 54-85%, respectively. Limits of detection ranged from 0.03 to 0.05 μg L-1 , while limits of quantification were in the range of 0.20-0.50 μg L-1 . Recoveries at three spiked concentration levels of 5, 10, and 50 μg L-1 were obtained in the range of 74.1-118.4%, with the relative standard deviation (RSD) below 11%. The developed method was simple, rapid, low cost, and reliable for trace determination of the studied fungicides.