Vortex-assisted liquid–liquid microextraction using a low-toxicity solvent for the determination of five organophosphorus pesticides in water samples by high-performance liquid chromatography

Vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection was applied to determine Isocarbophos, Parathion-methyl, Triazophos, Phoxim and Chlorpyrifos-methyl in water samples. 1-Bromobutane was used as the extraction solvent, which has a higher density than water and low toxicity. Centrifugation and disperser solvent were not required in this microextraction procedure. The optimum extraction conditions for 15 mL water sample were: pH of the sample solution, 5; volume of the extraction solvent, 80 μL; vortex time, 2 min; salt addition, 0.5 g. Under the optimum conditions, enrichment factors ranging from 196 to 237 and limits of detection below 0.38 μg/L were obtained for the determination of target pesticides in water. Good linearities (r > 0.9992) were obtained within the range of 1-500 μg/L for all the compounds. The relative standard deviations were in the range of 1.62-2.86% and the recoveries of spiked samples ranged from 89.80 to 104.20%. The whole proposed methodology is simple, rapid, sensitive and environmentally friendly for determining traces of organophosphorus pesticides in the water samples.