Microextraction by a packed sorbent (MEPS) is the miniaturized version of solid-phase extraction whereby sample volumes as small as 10 μL can be used. A syringe (100-250 μL) is used in MEPS technique, which generally contains 4 mg of solid packing material inserted as a plug. The sample preparation occurs on the surface of this bed which can be modified to provide varied sampling conditions. In the present work, MEPS has been employed as a sample preparation technique for the analysis of endocrine disruptor (ED) and suspected ED pesticides in biological and environmental samples. The pesticides aldicarb, dimethoate, propazine and terbutryn have been successfully separated by high performance liquid chromatography-ultra violet (HPLC-UV) system with acetonitrile/water as the mobile phase in the ratio 60/40. Several factors affecting the performance of MEPS technique such as the number of extraction cycles, type of washing and elution solvent were optimized. This method has been applied to the analysis of these pesticides in urine, soil and tap water samples with good recoveries in the range of 81.4-97.8%. The detection limit ranged between 0.05 and 0.6 ng mL for the analyzed pesticides.
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