Development and validation of a multiresidue method for the simultaneous determination of organophosphorus insecticides and their toxic metabolites in sugarcane juice and refined sugar by gas chromatography with flame photometric detection.

A multiresidue method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of organophosphorus insecticides and their toxic metabolites in sugarcane juice and refined sugar by gas chromatography with flame photometric detection. Limits of quantification of the method varied between 0.007 and 0.01 μg/g. Ethyl acetate based extraction followed by dispersive solid-phase extraction cleanup with primary secondary amine yielded internationally acceptable recoveries of acephate, chlorpyrifos, dichlorvos, monocrotophos, malathion, malaoxon, phorate, phorate-sulfoxide, phorate-oxon, phorate-sulfone, and quinalphos from selected matrices. The recoveries of target analytes from cane juice were 75.55 ± 0.5-102.57 ± 4.2, 77.45 ± 4.7-103.33 ± 3.3, and 80.55 ± 6.6-105.82 ± 9.8% at 0.01, 0.02, and 0.1 μg/g levels of fortification, respectively. The recoveries from cane sugar were 73.24 ± 3.5-104.47 ± 1.9, 75.23 ± 1.5-116.10 ± 3.7, and 70.75 ± 5.7-110.15 ± 2.7%, respectively at 0.01, 0.02, and 0.1 μg/g levels of fortification. Matrix effect and measurement uncertainty were within the permissible limit (less than 20%) as prescribed for pesticide residue analysis.