Rapid analysis of pesticide components, xylene, o-dichlorbenzene, cresol and dichlorvos, in blood and urine by pulse heating–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Abstract

Analysis of the pesticide components, xylene, o-dichlorbenzene (DCB), cresol and dichlorvos (DDVP, an organophosphate), was attempted using 3 μl of biological samples by pulse heating (Py)–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) without pretreatment. Xylene, DCB, cresol and DDVP were separately detected by Py-GC-MS. The regression lines for these four substances in the blood were shown to be linear between the peak height and their concentrations, 0.1/0.2–20 μg/ml. Recoveries of DDVP, cresol, DCB and xylene at the concentration of 1.0 μg/ml by Py-GC-MS ranged from 78.8 to 89.0% in blood, and from 84.2 to 91.2% in urine. For within-run precision, the coefficient of variation values at the concentration of 1.0 μg/ml ranged from 7.9 to 10.6% in blood, and from 5.8 to 9.4% in urine. The lower detection limits of xylene, DCB, cresol and DDVP in blood were 50, 50, 50 and 150 ng/ml, respectively. In comparison with the measured value in blood that was added to these four substances, Py-GC-MS showed good accuracy similar to GC-MS after the extraction method. DDVP and xylene could be successfully determined by Py-GC-MS in blood and urine in emergency medical and autopsy cases. From these results, Py-GC-MS can be performed in a short analytical time (15 min) and is a useful method to determine pesticide components in forensic medicine and emergency medical practice.