Determination of benzimidazole fungicides by HPLC with fluorescence detection after micellar extraction

Abstract

An analytical method was developed to determine the benzimidazole fungicides and their residues (benomyl, carbendazim, thiabendazole and fuberidazole) in real water samples. Analyses were performed by reverse phase (RP) HPLC with direct fluorescence detection with mobile phase methanol:water, 40:60 (v/v) with 0.6% (v/v) ammonia. The extraction of analytes from water samples was performed with the use of micellar systems. Specifically, oligoethylene glycol monoalkyl ether (Genapol X-080) and polyoxyethylene 10 lauryl ether (POLE) were used as extractants. The recoveries of fungicides obtained in spiked water samples ranged from 68% to 94% for Genapol and from 68% to 96% for POLE. The limit of detection (LOD) was lower than 6 μg L−1 for carbendazim, 7 μg L−1 benomyl, 0.15 μg L−1 for thiabendazole and 0.01 μg L−1 for fuberidazole in both surfactants.