Determination of commonly used polar herbicides in agricultural drainage waters in Australia by HPLC

The present study describes the application of different extraction techniques for the preconcentration of ten commonly found acidic and non-acidic polar herbicides (2,4-D, atrazine, bensulfuron-methyl, clomazone, dicamba, diuron, MCPA, metolachlor, simazine and triclopyr) in the aqueous environment. Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) with dichloromethane, solid-phase extraction (SPE) using Oasis® HLB cartridges or SBD-XC EmporeTM disks were compared for extraction efficiency of these herbicides in different matrices, especially water samples from contaminated agricultural drainage water containing high concentrations of particulate matter. Herbicides were separated and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an ultraviolet detector. SPE using SDB-XC EmporeTM disks was applied to determine target herbicides in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (NSW, Australia) during a two-week survey from October 2005 to November 2005. The daily aqueous concentrations of herbicides from 24-h composite samples detected at two sites increased after run-off from a storm event and were in the range of: 0.1–17.8 μg l−1, <0.1–0.9 μg l−1 and 0.2–17.8 μgl−1 at site 1; <0.1–3.5 μg l−1, <0.1–0.2 μgl−1 and <0.2–3.2 μg l−1 at site 2 for simazine, atrazine and diuron, respectively.