Sample purification for analysis of organochlorine pesticides in sediment and fish muscle

The methods of sample purification for determinations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in sediment and fish muscle were investigated in this study. A two-step procedure with preliminary cleanup and florisil column fraction was adopted. The working conditions of florisil column were firstly optimized. As to preliminary cleanup, liquid-liquid extraction by mixture of dimethyl formamide (DMF) and hexane and sulphonation by concentrated sulfuric acid were applied respectively and compared for the studied samples. The results indicated that liquid-liquid distribution could effectively separate lipids from fish muscle extracts, while failed in elimination of chlorophyll extracted from the relicts of hydrophytes in the sediment sample. In view of the sample appearance and clarity of gas chromatogram, sulphonation was more suitable to purify the sediment sample, however, the recoveries of the spiked standards were poor. The use of eluting solvent with stronger polarity could improve the corresponding recoveries significantly. Due to complete loss of Dieldrin, Endrin, and Endrin aldehyde after sulphonation, this pretreatment was improper to the three components. Sulfur, as the particular disturbing element in sediment, could be removed sufficiently by addition of activated copper powder. The relevant detection limits of the selected methods for OCPs in the studied substrates were also provided.