GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF ORGANOPHOSPHORUS PESTICIDES OF HORTICULTURAL CONCERN

An optimized GC method for the determination of 25 organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) currently applied to horticultural crops was developed. Four additional compounds were evaluated for their suitability as internal standards. The linearity, reproducibility and recoveries of the method are discussed. The reliability of the method for routine analysis of fruit and vegetable samples is demonstrated. Registration of the analytical results for a control sample in quality control charts demonstrated the performance of this method. The limits of detection are in the range 5-20 mu g/kg. The sample throughput is ca. 68 per 24 h. Results are also presented for extracts of four real samples fortified with the target OPs. The method was evaluated and the results were confirmed by GC-MS.