Introduction
- Fast analysis of chlorinated pesticides in under 10 minutes results in shorter cycle times and improved productivity
- Baseline separation of all analytes using Zebron ZB- MultiResidueTM-1 and -2 columns provides greater confidence in identification
TN-2039 APPLICATIONSPesticides are classes of chemicals that are used to treat or con- trol outbreaks of pests, especially insects. Food production as well as safety and health organizations heavily rely on pesticides to increase food yields and / or control disease outbreak spread by insects. Some pesticides have proven hazardous to other animals or the environment and have either been restricted or banned. The need to monitor products, especially foods, for pesticides is es- sential as more pesticides are being discovered to have adverse effects.One class of commonly used pesticides is chlorinated pesticides. These compounds are commonly detected using EPA Method 8081. This method determines the concentrations of various or- ganochlorine pesticides in extracts from solid and liquid matrices, including food products, using gas chromatography with electron capture detectors (ECD). The following applications provide two options for analyzing chlorinated pesticides by EPA Method 8081. Two different sets of columns are shown that provide separation of all analytes while still keeping retention times less than ten minutes to allow for faster cycle times and higher lab throughput.
Methods
If a compound is identified using a single column, the compounds presence should be confirmed on a second column. Simulta- neous identification and verification can be performed using a dual-column configuration as shown in Figure 1. Further experi- mental conditions are shown with each application.
Figure 1. Example of a Dual-Column Configuration.Discussion
Figure 2 shows a dual-column separation using Zebron Multi-Residue-1 and -2 columns. Each chromatogram shows complete resolution of all 20 analytes that are typically analyzed within EPA Method 8081 with run times less than 10 minutes. The chromatogram also includes surrogates to ensure that they don’t co-elute with analytes. The two main advantages of using a Zebron Multiresidue-1 and -2 for these analyses are that all compounds have baseline resolution as well as the very short retention times. The improved resolution allows for more robust methods. The faster retention times result in short cycle times and increased lab productivity.
Figure 2. Dual-Column Analysis of Chlorinated Pesticides using Zebron MultiResidue-1 and -2 Columns.>> Download the full Application Note as PDF
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