Analysis of phosphorus-containing amino acid-type herbicides by sheathless capillary electrophoresis/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry using a high sensitivity porous sprayer.

We describe a new practical capillary electrophoresis/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (CE/ESI-MS) method for the forensic analysis of phosphorus-containing amino acid-type herbicides, glyphosate (GLYP), glufosinate (GLUF) and bialaphos (BIAL). A new sheathless interface, a high sensitivity porous sprayer (HSPS), was used in this study. The limits of detections of GLYP, GLUF and BIAL were 7.6, 0.61 and 0.57 pg, respectively. These values were 4-36 times lower than these obtained by conventional CE/ESI-MS using a sheath liquid. The developed method was successfully applied to the analysis of beverages spiked with the herbicides.