DETERMINATION OF MECOPROP AND DICHLORPROP IN AQUEOUS SOIL SOLUTIONS BY HPLC WITH DAD

A reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method was dev eloped for the direct determination of mecoprop (MCPP) and dichlorprop (DCPP) in the presence of soil and peat constituents. Spiked aqueous soil or soil/peat samples were directly injected after centrifugation and filtration. The analytical sensitivity, 0.35 and 0.24 ng mu L-1, d etection limit, 1.02 and 0.70 ng mu L-1, and precision, 1.28 and 0.80% , for MCPP and DCPP respectively, are very appropriate. The concentrat ion ranges studied 0.0-94.2 ng mu L-1 for MCPP and 0.0-103.1 ng mu L-1 for DCPP are suitable for adsorption/desorption and mobility studies of these herbicides in soil. The two tests used to demonstrate the pur ity or otherwise of every chromatographic peak give valuable informati on.