New monitoring system for ninety pesticides and related compounds in river water by solid-phase extraction with determination by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

A new monitoring system was established for the determination of 90 pesticides and 10 pesticide degradation products in river water. The pesticides consisted of 18 fungicides, 30 insecticides, and 42 herbicides. The pesticides were extracted with a solid-phase, styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer, eluted with acetone, hexane, and ethyl acetate, and determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Overall recoveries ranged from 72 to 118%. The limits of detection were 0.01-0.1 microgram/L. This system determines most of the pesticides used in Japan and was successfully applied to practical monitoring of water polluted with pesticides and related compounds.