A simple and rapid method was developed to determine concentrations of
diuron [N‘-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N,N-dimethylurea] and three of
its major metabolites,
N‘-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N-methylurea (DCPMU), 3,4-dichlorophenylurea (DCPU), and
3,4-dichloroaniline (DCA), in ground
water and surface water. The analytical method utilizes a 25 mm
C18 Empore disk to quantitatively
determine diuron and its metabolites in 100 mL water samples. All
analytes are eluted by placing
the disk directly into a 2 mL autosampler vial in 1.5 mL of
methanol/acetonitrile (50/50) for analysis
by HPLC with UV detection. Recoveries from spiked field sample
matrices were 98.8 ± 1.6, 98.1 ±
4.5, 98.2 ± 3.6, and 77.8 ± 4.5% for diuron, DCPMU, DCPU, and DCA,
respectively. The method
precision, indicated by the relative standard deviation, was typically
±5%. The method detection
and quantitation limits are 0.5 and 1 μg/L for all analytes except
dichloroaniline (1.0 and 2.0 μg/L,
respectively). The concentrations of diuron and its metabolites
determined in surface water and
ground water samples collected from a field study site are
presented.
Keywords: Diuron; metabolites; solid phase extraction; Empore disks;
surface water; ground water