An analytical approach for extraction and detection of permethrin from functionalized textile materials

Abstract

With the development of textile industry and technology, the interest in creating value-added textiles is growing more and more. The global trend is to functionalize textile materials for narrow and well-defined purposes. Textile materials are increasingly subject of high quality standards and their functionalization must be very efficient and with minimal impact on the environment and human health. The purpose of this research was to determine the content of permethrin from knits made of Cell Solution® functional fibers, which provide effective protection against insects. The substance permethrin (according to WHO recommendation, C21H20Cl2O3, CAS number: 52645-53-1) is integrated into the fibers. Permethrin is a substance that acts similar to the natural pyrethrum extracted from chrysanthemum flowers. When insects get into contact with Cell Solution® PROTECTION fibers, the knockdown effect of the substance sets in. A chemically initiated stimulus causes insects to stay on the textile shorter thus reducing the risk of painful and infectious bites or strings. The repellent effect is particularly working on ticks, mites and gnats. This research also aims to make a comparison between the effect of different knitting methods (repeated washing cycles of textile materials, exposure to Weather Fastness Tester-visible light) in order to observe the stability of the insecticide incorporated into the fiber. For the extraction of permethrin from knits we used the innovative method of accelerated solvent extraction method (ASE) and for the quantification of the substance we used the liquid chromatographic method with spectrophotometric detection (HPLC-MWD). Both cis-permethrin and trans-permethrin were found in the samples, and for isomeric confirmation we analysed the extracted samples also on gas chromatography (GC-MS).