Ultrasound Assisted Emulsification Microextraction as a Simple Preconcentration Method for Determination of Atrazine in Environmental Samples

We represent an environmentally friendly sample of pre-treatment method, ultrasound assisted emulsification microextraction (USAEME) followed by gas chromatography nitrogen phosphorous detector (GC-NPD), to specify atrazine residues in environmental samples. Some parameters affecting the extraction efficiency such as the type and volume of the extraction solvent, emulsification time and addition of salt are optimized. According to the results, 30 µL of chlorobenzene was chosen as the extraction solvent and the required time for quantitative analysis was 5 minutes without ionic strength and pH adjustment. Under the optimum conditions, limit of detection (LOD) is 0.02 µgL-1 and the percentage of mean extraction efficiency for 3 µgL-1 of analyte is 93.3% with good precision about 2.5% for triplet analysis. The calibration curve is linear at the range of 0.1-600 µgL-1. The procedure is applied successfully for assessing a matrix effect on agricultural water samples and lettuce with relative recovery of 100.8-102.5% with precision in the range of 2.5-3.2%. The results have demonstrated a successful robustness of the method for rapid and quantitative determination of trace amounts of atrazine in environmental samples.