Development of magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction using toner powder as an efficient and economic sorbent in combination with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction for extraction of some widely used pesticides in fruit juices

Abstract

In this study, for the first time, a magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction method using an easy–accessible, cheap, and efficient magnetic sorbent (toner powder) combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction has been developed for the extraction and preconcentration of some widely used pesticides (diazinon, ametryn, chlorpyrifos, penconazole, oxadiazon, diniconazole, and fenazaquin) from fruit juices prior to their determination by gas chromatography–flame ionization detection. In this method, the magnetic sorbent is mixed with an appropriate dispersive solvent (methanol–water, 80:20, v/v) and then injected into an aqueous sample containing the analytes. By this action the analytes are rapidly adsorbed on the sorbent by binding to its carbon. The sorbent particles are isolated from the aqueous solution in the presence of an external magnetic field. Then an appropriate organic solvent (acetone) is used to desorb the analytes from the sorbent. Finally, the obtained supernatant is mixed with an extraction solvent and injected into deionized water in order to achieve high enrichment factors and sensitivity. Several significant factors affecting the performance of the introduced method were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the extraction recoveries of the proposed method for the selected analytes ranged from 49–75%. The relative standard deviations were ≤7% for intra- (n = 6) and inter-day (n = 4) precisions at a concentration of 10 μg L–1 of each analyte. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.15–0.36 μg L–1. Finally, the applicability of the proposed method was evaluated by analysis of the selected analytes in some fruit juices.