Optimization and validation of the preconcentration technique with SBSE coupled HPLC-UV/DAD for the identification of atrazine and two of its metabolites: 2-Hydroxyatrazine (2-HA) and Desethylatrazine (DEA) in aqueous samples

Abstract

Agriculture is the science of cultivating the land to obtain raw materials. The main reasons that have led to agricultural production have been to solve the problem of world hunger through the extensive use of agricultural practices (Carmona 2004). Mexico uses 76% of its renewable water for agriculture, which mainly produces sugarcane, corn and sorghum. During its cultivation, atrazine has been found to be used as a pesticide for weed control. Studies worldwide consider atrazine as an endocrine disruptor, even low doses of pesticides can alter the biochemical profile, resulting in oxidative stress within the population’s brains causing hormonal imbalance and is classified as a carcinogenic substance, it also represents various risks to the aquatic environment and its propagation in it, so it has been banned in some countries (CICOPLAFEST 2005, IARC 2014, Sharma et al 2023). There are studies where residual pesticides are detected in soil, water, food, biological fluids and tissue samples. In food, different pesticides have been found in cereal grains, cactus, shrimp, vegetable oils, tomato, grapes, among others (Ahmed et al. 2009, Aldana et al. 2008, Alsayeda et al. 2008). Hence the interest in studying the persistence of pesticides in the environment. Atrazine is one of the most widely used pesticides in the world and Mexico is the second country where it is used in the greatest quantity, and where there is no law prohibiting or regulating its use. It should be noted that some Mexican standards provide maximum permissible limits in a preventive manner, mainly those referring to drinking water, wastewater discharges and food (Bello 2016, FAO 2016, González-Márquez & Hansen 2009). In the practice of chemical analysis there are countless reasons to perform tests, measurements and examinations in laboratories worldwide, for example, to control the quality of drinking and irrigation water, food, medical analysis, high value-added products among many others, which require high reliability since important decisions depend on the results that these measurements produce (Eurolab 2016). That is why it is considered necessary that the methods of analysis, as well as the analytical results are subjected to some acceptance criterion that allows them to document their quality and verify that the experimental procedures meet the quality criteria requested by the customer and are suitable for the specific use for which they were developed. This procedure is known as method validation and is applied by countless laboratories around the world (CDER 1994).