Determination of amitraz and other acaricide residues in beeswax

A method is reported for the first time for the determination in beeswax of several acaricides used for the control of the bee parasite Varroa destructor. The method was optimized and validated for amitraz residues in wax and was. applied to the determination of other acaricides: bromopropylate (BP), chlordimeform, cymiazole and chlorfenvinphos.. It consists of a methanol extraction step, cleanup by solid-phase extraction (SPE) with octadecylsilica and determination by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using selected ion monitoring (SIM) detection. The limits of detection for the different substances were between 0.02 and 0.2 mg/kg, and the recoveries, between 40 and 95%. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.