Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

Pesticides are among the most dangerous environmental pollutants because of their stability, mobility and long-term effects on living organisms. Their presence in sources of drinking water, essential to life, is a particular danger. In water, these compounds can undergo transformations, leading to the production of substances of even greater toxicity. Legal regulations are in force, stipulating the highest permissible level of pesticides and their residues in water samples; therefore, sensitive and selective analytical techniques have to be applied, appropriate to the low levels of the target analytes. One problem associated with the application of organophosphorus and -nitrogen pesticides is the need to monitor their levels in the environment, especially in water, in view of their ability to accumulate. The analysis of water samples for the presence of pesticides is fraught with difficulties, since the preparation of the samples for analysis is an arduous and time-consuming process, which can itself give rise to additional contamination and errors. The generally low levels of target analytes and often the complexity of the matrix are further problems the analyst has to contend with. This paper examines the most commonly used techniques for extracting and determining organophosphorus and -nitrogen pesticides, and discusses the analytical problems arising at each stage of the analytical procedure.

Authors

• Maciej Tankiewicz,
• Jolanta Fenik,
• prof. dr hab. inż. Marek Biziuk link open in new tab