Determination of propoxur in environmental samples by automated solid-phase extraction followed by flow-injection analysis with tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) chemiluminescence detection

Degradation of the insecticide propoxur by electrochemical advanced oxidation processes using a boron-doped diamond/air-diffusion cell

A solution with 0.38 mM of the pesticide propoxur (PX) at pH 3.0 has been comparatively treated by electrochemical oxidation with electrogenerated H₂O₂ (EO-H₂O₂), electro-Fenton (EF), and photoelectro-Fenton (PEF). The trials were carried out with a 100-mL boron-doped diamond (BDD)/air-diffusion cell. The EO-H₂O₂ process had the lowest oxidation ability due to the slow reaction of intermediates with ^•OH produced from water discharge at the BDD anode. The EF treatment yielded quicker mineralization due to the additional ^•OH formed between added Fe²⁺ and electrogenerated H₂O₂. The PEF process was the most powerful since it led to total mineralization by the combined oxidative action of hydroxyl radicals and UVA irradiation. The PX decay agreed with a pseudo-first-order kinetics in EO-H₂O₂, whereas in EF and PEF, it obeyed a much faster pseudo-first-order kinetics followed by a much slower one, which are related to the oxidation of its Fe(II) and Fe(III) complexes, respectively. EO-H₂O₂ showed similar oxidation ability within the pH range 3.0-9.0. The effect of current density and Fe²⁺ and substrate contents on the performance of the EF process was examined. Two primary aromatic products were identified by LC-MS during PX degradation.

Evaluation of the fate of the active ingredients of insecticide sprays used indoors

The fate of the active ingredients of insecticide sprays after use in indoor environments was investigated. Indoor air sampling was performed through two types of adsorbents, namely, TENAX TA and XAD-2 (10 L). After sampling, both adsorbents were ultrasonically extracted and analyzed by Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectroscopy. The separation and analysis of the selected compounds were satisfactory and fast (duration of the chromatographic run: 40 min). The method was linear for all examined chemicals over the tested range (2 to 50 ng of absolute compound); limits of detection ranged from 0.42 to 1.32 ng of absolute compound. The method was then applied in the determination of the active ingredients of three commercially available insecticide sprays that were separately used in a full-scale environmental chamber (30 m(3)). After spraying, the fate of the active ingredients [propoxur, piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and pyrethrin insecticides] was monitored over 40 minutes, with and without ventilation. Both adsorbent materials were proven to be efficient and the differences in the concentrations deriving from sampling with both materials were in almost all cases less than 10%. All chemicals were removed in rates that exceeded 80%, after the 40 minutes of monitoring, exhibiting different decay rates. The removal of insecticides was not significantly affected by the ventilation of the chamber. The correlation analysis of propoxur, PBO and pyrethrins with the aerosols of various sizes (15 fractions, from 0.3 to > 20 microm) showed that propoxur and PBO mainly associated with the medium size aerosols (3-7.5 microm) while pyrethrins seem to link more with heavier particles (> 10 microm).

Determination of N-methylcarbamate pesticides in environmental samples by an automated solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatographic method based on post-column photolysis and chemiluminescence detection

An automated solid-phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography method has been developed to determine trace concentration of N-methylcarbamate pesticides in water and fruits. The method is based on the post-column conversion of the pesticides into methylamine by irradiation with UV light. The resultant methylamine was subsequently detected by chemiluminescence using tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(III), which was on-line generated by photo-oxidation of the ruthenium(II) complex with peroxydisulfate. Factors affecting the rate of the reactions were optimized so that their contribution to the total band-broadening was negligible. This detection system was used to determine bendiocarb, carbaryl, promecarb and propoxur, which were separated on an ODS C(18) column. The mobile phase consisted of water and acetonitrile using a gradient elution. A linear relationship between peak area and concentration was obtained for all pesticides (r(2)>0.999). Intra- and inter-day precision values of about 0.64-1.3% RSD (n=10) and 2.2-2.8% RSD (n=15), respectively, were obtained. N-Methylcarbamate pesticide residues at ultratrace levels could be determined in environmental samples when an automated solid-phase extraction device was coupled on-line with the HPLC system. Detection limits were within the range 3.9-36.7 ngl(-1) for water samples and 0.5-4.7 microgkg(-1) for fruits.