Experimental Design of Vortex Assisted Switchable Solvent Homogeneous Liquid-Liquid Microextraction for Simultaneous Determination of Four Pesticides in Wastewater

Abstract

Abstract Background Pesticides are chemicals used mainly to protect plant crops in order to increase their production efficiency and quality. Objective Switchable-solvent homogeneous liquid-liquid microextraction was optimized using a Box-Behnken experimental design and validated on a gas chromatography mass spectrometry system for the determination of analytes. Method The significance of independent variables (switchable solvent volume, sodium hydroxide volume, and vortex period) and their interactions were evaluated by analysis of variance at 95% confidence limits (α = 0.05). Results The LOD and LOQ ranges of the analytes were found to be 0.42–1.90 µg/L and 1.36–6.33 µg/L, respectively. Percentage recovery results were found to be in the range of 87–113% in spiking experiments. Conclusions A simple, efficient, and accurate analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of the selected pesticides. Highlights: Matrix matching was used to enhance quantification accuracy for real samples. Highlights Matrix matching was used to enhance quantification accuracy for real samples.