Pesticides in Portuguese surface and ground waters.

Pesticides used in Portuguese agricultural areas have been found in surface and ground waters. In the surface water collected in three river basins from 1983 to 1999, insecticides and herbicides were detected from the monitored pesticides, particularly atrazine, chlorfenvinphos (Z+E), alpha- and beta-endosulfan, lindane, molinate and simazine, reaching the maximum values, respectively, of 0.63, 31.6, 0.18 microg/L (alpha-endosulfan), 0.18 microg/L (beta-endosulfan), 0.24, 48 and 0.3 microg/L. In the ground water collected from the wells of seven agricultural areas from 1991 to 1998, several monitored herbicides were detected: alachlor, atrazine, metolachlor, metribuzine and simazine, reaching the maximum concentration values of 13, 30, 56, 1.4 and 0.4 microg/L, respectively. The herbicides more frequently detected were atrazine (64%), simazine (45%) and alachlor (25%). Other than these, the monitored pesticides can be present in Portuguese surface and ground waters. Therefore, to improve the analytical conditions, the use of multiresidue methods and automated techniques are desirable in future work.

Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of organophosphorus insecticide residues in fruits and vegetables.

A method intended for regulatory purposes is described for the determination of organophosphorus insecticide residues in fruits and vegetables. Eighteen organophosphorus insecticides, azinphos-ethyl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dichlorvos, dimethoate, ethion, ethoate-methyl, fenitrothion, fenthion, formothion, malathion, methidathion, mevinphos, parathion, phosalone, phosphamidon, thiometon, and trichlorphon, and 7 metabolites, fenitrooxon, fenthion sulfoxide, fenthion sulfone, malaoxon, desethylphosphamidon, thiometon sulfoxide, and thiometon sulfone, were extracted from different crops with acetone and partitioned into hexane or ethyl acetate, according to their polarities. The hexane extract was cleaned up by eluting from a Florisil column with acetone-hexane (4+96). The ethyl acetate extract needs no cleanup. The concentrated extracts were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography using thermionic detectors. Recoveries conducted at fortification levels ranging from 0.1 to 2 mg/kg were in most cases above 80%. The limit of sensitivity is less than 0.1 mg/kg.