Simultaneous determination of sixteen phenylurea herbicides in water by high performance liquid chromatography and solid phase extraction.

A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure for simultaneous determination of sixteen phenylurea herbicides in water is described. A Lichrospher 100 RP-18e column and spectrophotometric detection at 240 nm were used. Adequate retention was achieved with a mobile phase of acetonitrile/water solution with gradient elution. The HPLC analysis time was less than 20 min. The herbicides were isolated from water samples by using a single solid phase extraction procedure with C18 solid-phase columns. An enrichment factor of 1,000 was achieved. Recoveries were in the range between 87.8% and 103.7%. The detection limits of the whole procedure achieved were less than one-tenth of the maximum limit permitted by the European Community standard for drinking water.