Solid phase extraction/gas chromatography/electron capture detector method for the determination of organochlorine pesticides in wildlife and wildlife food sources

Abstract

A gas chromatographic method for the analysis of 10 organochlorine pesticides in a variety of biological matrices was developed. Sample preparation involved an acetonitrile extraction, followed by a solid phase extraction clean up using C18-florisil cartridges in tandem. The pesticides were quantified by gas chromatography with an electron capture detector. Method limits of detection ranged from 1.1-2.6 ng/g. The mean recovery and standard deviation for the ten pesticides in fortified deer muscle was 94.7% ± 7.9. Recoveries for individual analytes ranged from 83.6 to 105%. While the method was developed and validated using deer muscle, it was successfully applied to quantify these analytes in insects, bird eggs, calf liver, beef brain, boar, deer, elk, alligator, mussels, oysters, clams, crab, mahi mahi, and tobacco.