Paraquat quantification in deposits from drinking water networks

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

Mónica S. F. Santos (Author) FEUP; Luís M. Madeira (Author) FEUP; Arminda Alves (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Analytical Methods

Vol. 6 No. 11

Pages: 3791-3798

ISSN: 1759-9660

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 3 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 4 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology

Associated Projects

SECUREAU - Security and decontamination of drinking water distribution systems following a deliberate contamination

ACQUASAFE - Segurança química em sistemas de abastecimento de água

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-009-GPB

DOI: 10.1039/c4ay00121d

Abstract (EN): The aim of this work was to develop an expeditious analytical methodology to evaluate the paraquat (PQ) contamination level in deposits from drinking water networks. To the best of our knowledge, no other study has focused on this matter, which is of crucial importance, for instance, to obtain a fast response after a suspicion of contamination (emergency situation). Three deposits representative of those typically found in drinking water networks were used: two iron-based - S2 and S3, and a calcium rich one - S4. The analytical method consists of an easy and fast extraction step, using a saturated ammonium chloride solution, followed by direct injection in a high performance liquid chromatograph with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). A matrix-matched calibration was performed for paraquat, in the range of 5 to 193 mu gPQ per g deposit, and a limit of detection of 0.1 mu gPQ per g deposit was reached. The good percentages of recovery (90-101% on average) and the tow relative standard deviations observed for the PQ-S3 system (3, 4 and 2% for 20, 80 and 160 mu gPQ per g deposit, respectively) enable a reliable quantification of paraquat, even at the lowest contamination levels. The developed analytical methodology can also be extended for diquat and also proved to be suitable for paraquat quantification in other types of deposits.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 8