Molecularly imprinted polymer applied to the determination of the residual mass of atrazine and metabolites within an agricultural catchment (Brévilles, France)

Atrazine, desethyl-atrazine and desisopropyl-atrazine have been measured in the soils of Brévilles watershed. Pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) technique was used for extraction followed by purification with terbutylazine molecularly imprinted polymers. This clean-up procedure allowed to remove interfering compounds from the sample extracts. Thus making easier the analyses by reversed phase liquid chromatography coupled with ion trap tandem mass spectrometry. This selective sample treatment for soil extracts allowed limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.03 ng/g for atrazine and 0.05 ng/g for metabolites. The concentrations in soil samples ranged from 7.1 ng/g to