Water contamination due to the wide variety of pesticides used in
agriculture is a global environmental pollution problem. In order to
reach at sub-μgL-1 levels of detection, an efficient extraction
technique is required. A simple, fast and economical method, dispersive
liquid-liquid micro extraction (DLLME), followed by gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry was assessed for determining
endosulfan in water samples. Experimental parameters which control the
performance of DLLME, such as extraction and disperser solvents type
and their volumes, temperature, and salt addition were studied by
experimental design. The main factors affecting the extraction
efficiency, volumes of disperser and extraction solvents, were
optimized by response surface method. Under optimum conditions, the
method was linear over the range 0.1-50 μg/L. The enrichment
factor and extraction recovery were 163.4 and 63.73, respectively.
Correlation coefficient and limit of detection (LODs) are 0.9996, 20
ng/L, respectively