Microwave assisted solvent extraction (MASE) for the efficient determination of triazines in soil samples with aged residues

The use of microwave-assisted solvent extraction (MASE) as an alternative for conventional solvent extraction procedures for the determination of some triazine herbicides in soil samples has been investigated. In this study MASE method development was focused on the selection of a suitable extraction solvent prior to the instrumental analysis of uncleaned extracts with gas chromatography and nitrogen-specific detection. A mixture of dichloromethane-methanol (90:101 v/v) yielded recoveries ranging from 89 to 103 (spiked level 200 mu g/kg) with RSDs ranging from 2.1 to 5.3 %. This solvent mixture is also very convenient for further procedure. The selected MASE procedure was tested by analyzing freshly spiked soil samples and samples with aged residues of atrazine, desethylatrazine, desisopropylatrazine and simazine. The results were compared with those obtained by a conventional liquid extraction method. The comparative study indicated that MASE yields recoveries at least as good as those obtained by the conventional method. Moreover, the MASE procedure provides low solvent consumption in combination with a high sample throughput.