Determination of dimethoate, 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid, mecoprop and linuron pesticides in environmental waters in Republic of Macedonia by high performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

An HPLC-UVDAD method for determination of dimethoate, 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), mecoprop (MCPP) and linuron environmental waters was developed. The water samples were concentrated and extracted by a solid phase extraction (SPE) method on Bond Elut PPL cartridges. After extraction the investigated compounds were separated on Stability RP Pesticides chromatographic column using mobile phase composed of acetonitrile-water-acetic acid in volume fractions of 39:59:2 and flow rate of 0.7 mL/min. Ultraviolet absorption detection was carried out for dimethoate, 2,4-D and MCPP at 229 nm, and for linuron at 249 nm. Recoveries made from 500 mL of drinking waters using solid phase extraction ranged between 64.3-92.1 %. The method was applied to environmental waters in Macedonia that receive runoffs from agriculture lands. The levels of pesticides under study ranged between 0.31 μg/L and 7.05 μg/L, depending on the compound and sampling period.