High-performance liquid chromatography multiresidue method for the determination of N-methyl carbamates in fruit and vegetable juices

A rapid multiresidue method has been developed for the analysis of N-methylcarbamate insecticides (oxamyl, methomyl, propoxur, carbofuran, carbaryl, and methiocarb) in fruit and vegetable juices. The method is based on the adsorption of the N-methyl carbamates in Florisil and the subsequent extraction of pesticides using a low volume of acetone. Residue levels in juice were determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection after postcolumn derivatization. The separation of carbamates is performed on a C8 column with water-methanol as mobile phase. Recovery studies were performed at 500-, 100-, and 10-ng/ml fortification levels, and average recoveries obtained for carbamates ranged from 79 to 109%, with relative standard deviations between 1.4 and 9.9%. The method was found to be linear over the range assayed from 10 to 1,000 ng/ml, and the detection limits for carbamates varied from 0.8 to 1.9 ng/ml.