GC/MS ANALYSIS OF PESTICIDES IN THE FERRARA AREA (ITALY)SURFACE WATER: A CHEMOMETRIC STUDY

The development of a network to monitor surface waters is a critical element in the assessment, restoration and protection of water quality. In this study,concentrations of 42 pesticides ― determined by GC-MS on samples from 11 points along the Ferrara area rivers ― have been analyzed by chemometric tools. The data were collected over a three-year period (2002-2004). Principal component analysis of the detected pesticides was carried out in order to define the best spatial locations for the sampling points. The results obtained have been interpreted in view of agricultural land use. Time series data regarding pesticide contents in surface waters has been analyzed using the Autocorrelation function. This chemometric tool allows for seasonal trends and makes it possible to optimize sampling frequency in order to detect the effective maximum pesticide conten

Triazine herbicide imprinted monolithic column for capillary electrochromatography

Trietazine was selectively separated from aqueous solution containing the competitor molecule cyanazine, which is similar in size and shape to the template molecule. Structural features of the molecularly imprinted column were figured out by SEM. The influence of the mobile-phase composition, applied electrical field, and pH of the mobile phase on the recognition of trietazine by the imprinted monolithic polymer has been evaluated, and the imprint effect in the trietazine-imprinted monolithic polymer was demonstrated by an imprinting factor. The optimized monolithic column resulted in separation of trietazine from a structurally related competitor molecule, cyanazine. In addition, fast separation was obtained within 6 min by applying higher electrical field, with the electrophoretic mobility of 2.97 x 10(-8) m(2)V(-1)s(-1) at pH 11.0