Determination of organophosphorus pesticides by capillary electrophoresis-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with collective sample-introduction technique

A new method for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides using CE-ICP-MS with collective sample-introduction technique has been developed in this study. The method has been successfully used to separate and determine dimethoate, trichlorfon and glyphosate with an RSD of < 5% for migration times (n = 6) and < 4% for peak areas (n = 6). The experimental results showed that the collective sample-introduction considerably reduced the makeup volume and the dilution of analyte, and eventually resulted in a much lower detection limit and a much better electrophoretic resolution. The peak widths and the detection limits of dimethoate, trichlorfon and glyphosate obtained with this method are 15-17 s and 0.05-0.07 mu g/mL (as compound), respectively. Using this method, we have successfully separated and deter-mined dimethoate, trichlorfon and glyphosate in vegetable sample with a recovery of 90-96%.