Determination of herbicides atrazine and butachlor in soil by high performance liquid chromatography

A Liquid Chromatographic procedure was described for simultaneous determination atrazine and butachlor in soil with a diode-array-detector(DAD).Unequivocal identification by Rt alone,however,is sometimes difficult. The UV spectra offer a viable alternative to Rt.The distinct differences in Rt and UV of the peaks are noteworthy. UV spectra are extremely helpful and served to accurately identify the various component. Soil samples containing herbicide residues were extracted on a shaker using dichloromethane. The extractions were finally concentrated to 1 ml by a K-D concentrator then the residues were quantitated by peak height. Detection limits for atrazine and butachlor were 0.1 ppb and 0.8 ppb respectively. Fortified at 5.0 ng,10. 0 ng, and 50.0 ng levels,the recoveries of atrazine (n= 8)were 88.4%,95. 1% and 91. 6%. Fortified at 10. 0 ng,50. 0 ng and 80.0 ng levels,the recoveries of butachlor (n=8) were 89. 8%,91.2% and 87.4%,respectively.