Simple extraction methods for pesticide compound-specific isotope analysis from environmental samples

• Published in: MethodsX Vol. 9; p. 101880
• Main Authors: Gilevska, Tetyana, Wiegert, Charline, Droz, Boris, Junginger, Tobias, Prieto-Espinoza, Maria, Borreca, Adrien, Imfeld, Gwenaël
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.01.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: CSIA; degradation; Environmental Sciences; Extraction methods for pesticide compound-specific isotope analysis from environmental samples; Method; Pesticide extraction; stable isotopes; transformation products; Extraction methods for pesticide compound-specific isotope analysis from environmental samples; stable isotopes; degradation; Pesticide extraction; transformation products; CSIA; Pesticide extraction stable isotopes CSIA degradation transformation products
• ISSN: 2215-0161; 2215-0161
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mex.2022.101880

•Extractions from soil, plants, and water were tested for pesticide C and N CSIA.•Pesticide recoveries strongly varied among compounds and matrices properties.•Tested extraction methods caused no effect on δ13C and δ15N of pesticides.•C and N pesticide CSIA can be applied in situ to agricultural water samples.•Pesticide CSIA for soil and sediment samples are limited to source areas. Compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) is a powerful approach to track the fate of organic pollutants in the environment. However, the application of CSIA to micropollutants, such as pesticides, remains limited because appropriate extraction methods are currently lacking. Such methods should address a wide range of pesticides and environmental matrices and allow recovering sufficient mass for reliable CSIA without inducing stable isotope fractionation. Here, we present simple extraction methods for carbon and nitrogen CSIA for different environmental matrices and six commonly used herbicides, i.e., atrazine, terbutryn, acetochlor, alachlor, butachlor, and S-metolachlor, and three fungicides, i.e., dimethomorph, tebuconazole, and metalaxyl. We examined the potential of several extraction methods for four types of soils or sediments, three types of environmental waters and aerial and root plant samples for multielement (ME)-CSIA. • The pesticide extraction recovery varied depending on physical characteristics of pesticides or matrix properties for environmental water (77 to 87%), soil and sediment (35 to 82%), and plant (40 to 59%) extraction. • The tested extraction methods did not significantly affect the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures of pesticides (Δ(13C) <0.9‰ for Δ(15N) <1.0‰). [Display omitted]