Determination of sulfonylurea degradation products in soil by liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection followed by confirmatory liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A method based on liquid extraction followed by sample enrichment on revers ed-phase solid-phase extraction was developed for the extraction of five de gradation products of four sulfonylurea herbicides (chlorsulfuron, metsulfu ron-methyl, thifensulfuron-methyl and tribenuron-methyl) from soil. The com pounds have been quantified by LC-W and identified by tandem LC-MS with ele ctrospray ionization or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization. The limit s of detection for the five compounds were between 10 and 50 mu g kg(-1). T he method has been applied to the extraction of soil samples after microbia l degradation of sulfonylurea herbicides. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.