Simple analytical methodology based on solid phase extraction for monitoring pesticide residues in natural waters

Pesticide contamination of natural waters due to agricultural activities has been a widely publicized topic over the past 30 years and will continue to be a problem in the future. The determination of pesticide residues in water samples is necessary for solving various environmental problems. The aim of this work was to develop an efficient method on the basis of solid phase extraction (SPE) technique for the determination of 34 multiclass pesticides in natural waters. SPE using C18 extraction disks followed by gas chromatography (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography (LC-MS) were used for the determination of various pesticides residues in environmental waters. The developed SPE method provided good repeatability and reproducibility range, high extraction efficiency and low LODs. The performance results confirm the usefulness of the proposed methodology for the analysis multiclass pesticides in natural waters. The key benefits of this methodology are: • It possesses the advantages of SPE (fast, simple, highly sensitive) and could be potentially extended to other classes of pesticides. • It can be used as a useful tool for monitoring purposes on natural waters. • The validated methodology meets regulatory requirements established by the EU [1] and other authorities of developed countries [2].