Determination of carcinogenic herbicides in milk samples using green non-ionic silicone surfactant of cloud point extraction and spectrophotometry.

N I Mohd,M Raoov,N N M Zain,S Mohamad

doi:10.1098/rsos.171500

Abstract

A new cloud point methodology was successfully used for the extraction of carcinogenic pesticides in milk samples as a prior step to their determination by spectrophotometry. In this work, non-ionic silicone surfactant, also known as 3-(3-hydroxypropyl-heptatrimethylxyloxane), was chosen as a green extraction solvent because of its structure and properties. The effect of different parameters, such as the type of surfactant, concentration and volume of surfactant, pH, salt, temperature, incubation time and water content on the cloud point extraction of carcinogenic pesticides such as atrazine and propazine, was studied in detail and a set of optimum conditions was established. A good correlation coefficient (R2) in the range of 0.991–0.997 for all calibration curves was obtained. The limit of detection was 1.06 µg l−1 (atrazine) and 1.22 µg l−1 (propazine), and the limit of quantitation was 3.54 µg l−1 (atrazine) and 4.07 µg l−1 (propazine). Satisfactory recoveries in the range of 81–108% were determined in milk samples at 5 and 1000 µg l−1, respectively, with low relative standard deviation, n = 3 of 0.301–7.45% in milk matrices. The proposed method is very convenient, rapid, cost-effective and environmentally friendly for food analysis.

Highlights

This article has been edited by the Royal Society of Chemistry, including the commissioning, peer review process and editorial aspects up to the point of acceptance
Atrazine and propazine were found in the blank sample, the concentrations detected were lower than the maximal residue limits of 900 μg l−1 established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization [42]. These results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method for the measurement of triazine species in milk samples using spectrophotometry
The high absorbance shown by many surfactants in the UV region prevents the use of the cloud point extraction coupled with the spectrophotometric method

Summary

Introduction

This article has been edited by the Royal Society of Chemistry, including the commissioning, peer review process and editorial aspects up to the point of acceptance. Determination of carcinogenic herbicides in milk samples using green non-ionic silicone surfactant of cloud point extraction and spectrophotometry. A new cloud point methodology was successfully used for the extraction of carcinogenic pesticides in milk samples as a prior step to their determination by spectrophotometry. Atrazine and propazine have been the most excessively applied herbicides over 40 years in preventing the existence of broadleaf weeds in desired crops They are ubiquitous environmental pollutants in soil, water and food samples. In the European Union (EU), content residues in milk and cream are not higher than 50 μg l−1 [2] Because of these restrictions, analytical methods are required for monitoring the widespread distribution and it is highly desirable that these be environmentally friendly ‘green’ analytical methods [3]

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