Determination of two herbicides in drainage water

Abstract

Pesticides used m agricultural production for weeds and pests control can migrate to surfac and ground water after application. Their presence in water used for irrigation can cause yiel reduction and decrease product quality. This is very important considering importance ¢ water quality for agricultural production, especially organic. Some of commonly detecte pesticides in surface water are chloracetanilide herbicides, acetochlor and alachlor. They at herbicides widely used for control of broadleaf weeds and annual grasses in row crops. Thi study was carried out to evaluate the content of acetochlor and alachlor in drainage wate) which is widely used im agricultural production for irrigation. Water samples were collecte from drainage canals in agricultural fields in the region of Vojvodina Province, Serbia. Thi part of Serbia is well-known as region with intensive agricultural production. The samplin was performed during June 2012, on twelve potential risk sites. Solid-phase extraction on Cy ENVI™ SP dise (47 mm) was used for isolation of the investigated pesticides, acetochlo and alachlor, from water samples. Prior to extraction dise was conditioned with 5 ml o methanol and 5 ml of deionized water. Alterward, water sample was filtered through the disc After drying the dise, acetochlor and alachlor were eluted with mixture of dichloromethan and n-hexane (40/60, v/v) and evaporated to dryness. Finally, the extract was diluted in 1m methanol and analyzed. Analysis was performed with a Hewlett-Packard (HP) model 589 Series If gas chromatograph with EC Ni®’ detector (GC/ECD). Most of the analyzed wate samples were found to be contaminated. Content of acetochlor and alachlor were ranged fron 0.02-0.41 jug] and 0.05-0.78 jtg/l, respectively. This could be due to the frequent usage of th« above-mentioned herbicides in these localities,