Methodological reception for determination of dicamba residues in soybeans by GC-MS

Introduction. In this paper, there are presented results of investigations on the  development and validation of the method for the determination of dicamba residues in import foodstuff (soybeans). The identification and quantitative determination of dicamba are performed by capillary gas-liquid chromatography with mass-selective detection (ionization-electron impact).

Material and methods. The stages of sample preparation include four steps as extraction with acidified acetonitrile, followed by the filtration and evaporation; freezing  the sample with filtration and evaporation; dissolving the dry residue in a mixture of acetone: water (1:20); purification by repeated redistribution in a system of immiscible solvents under varying the pH of the aqueous medium (pH 9-10: dichloromethane, hexane, pH 2: hexane-tert-butyl methyl ether). The chromatographic measurement was preceded by the derivatization of the acid to the corresponding methyl ester by the treatment with a solution of diazomethane in diethyl ether.

Results. The lower limit of the quantitative evaluation of dicamba in samples of soybean beans is of 0.01 mg/kg, the signal-to-noise ratio at the detection limit accounts of 20:1. The completeness of extraction of dicamba, established on the basis of analysis of model samples with the introduction of a substance at four points within the defined range, amounted to 85-95%. The average quadratic deviation of the repetition varies in the range of 3.3-4.9%.

Discussion. The use of diethyl ether containing dibutylhydroxytoluene (6 ppm) as a stabilizer, as well as the interfering effect of phthalates,  led to the formation of poorly resolved peaks of the methyl ester of dicamba, dibutylhydroxytoluene, and dibutyl phthalate. The combination of the use of different methods of data collection (in the scanning mode and in the mode of recording individual ions) made it possible to identify these components. Replacement of the used diethyl ether, as well as variation of chromatographic conditions, for separation of dicamba and phthalate peaks, made it possible to achieve the necessary selectivity of detection of the analyte.