A new liquid–liquid microextraction method by ultrasound assisted salting-out for determination of triazole pesticides in water samples coupled by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

A simple, fast and environmentally friendly method termed “ultrasound assisted salting-out homogeneous liquid–liquid microextraction (UASO-HLLME)” has been developed and validated for the quantitative determination of triazole pesticides in water samples coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In this work, the water-miscible solvent, acetonitrile was used as an extractant instead of a highly toxic extractant used in traditional dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) to form a homogeneous water solution, followed by salting-out a small amount of acetonitrile for the purpose of extraction and enrichment. Various parameters affecting the extraction process, including the kind and volume of extractant, ultrasound assisted promoting solvent collection and solvent blending, were optimized. Under optimum conditions matrix matched calibration curves were established using a standard solution spiked water sample. Good linear relationships as well as low limits of detection, LODs (0.4–14.4 μg L⁻¹) and quantification, LOQs (1.3–48.1 μg L⁻¹), were obtained. The relative standard deviation percentages (RSD%) of the spiked water sample and real environmental water sample were 4.5–8.1% and 0.4–8.1%, respectively, with an enrichment factor (EF) of 120–185. Recoveries obtained from spiked environmental water samples at three concentration levels ranged from 89.6 to 119%. The results of the analysis revealed that this method is simple, fast and environmentally friendly, being successfully applicable for the determination of triazole pesticides in water samples.