[Rapid and simultaneous determination of glyphosate, glufosinate, and their metabolites in soil by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry]

Glyphosate (GLY) and glufosinate (GLUF) are non-selective translocated herbicides that are used in agricultural and non-agricultural land worldwide. The extensive use of GLY and GLUF may lead to their accumulation in soil, which causes soil pollution and affects the soil micro-ecological environment; the accumulated GLY and GLUF also migrate to groundwater via leaching. However, GLY, GLUF, and their metabolites are highly water-soluble and lack chromogenic and fluorescent groups, making them difficult to analyze. Currently, derivatization methods are mostly used to detect GLY, GLUF, and their metabolites. However, these methods also have some drawbacks, such as complex operation, long time consumption, and poor stability. In addition, these compounds are easily passivated and made inactive in soil; they also react with organic matter, humic acid, metal oxides, and heavy metal ions, making their extraction from soil difficult. To date, the method for the determination of GLY, GLUF, and their metabolites in soil is limited. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a quick and sensitive method to determine the residues of GLY, GLUF, and their metabolites in soil. In this study, a high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the determination of GLY, GLUF, and their metabolites in soil. Parameters like extraction solvent, extraction temperature, extraction time, and adsorbents, which affected the extraction efficiencies, were optimized. Finally, the soil samples were extracted with 0.5 mol/L ammonia solution in a bath shaker at 50 ℃, and then centrifuged at 10000 r/min for 5 min. The supernatant was filtered through 0.2-μm syringe filters and then determined by HPLC-MS/MS. A Dikma Polyamino HILIC column (150 mm×2.0 mm, 5 μm) was used for chromatographic separation with good peak shape and high response of the target compounds. Ammonium acetate (0.2 mmol/L) with 0.07% ammonia aqueous solution and acetonitrile were used as the mobile phase. The flow rate of the elute was 0.25 mL/min. MS/MS was conducted under multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using an electrospray ionization (ESI) source, and was quantified by the external standard method using matrix-matched calibration curves. All the target compounds were ionized in the negative ionization mode. The linear ranges of GLY and its metabolites were between 5.0 and 500 μg/L, and those of GLUF and its metabolites were between 2.0 and 500 μg/L. Linear correlation coefficients were greater than 0.99. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were assessed using signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios of 3 and 10, respectively. The LOD and LOQ values of both GLY and (aminomethyl)phosphonic acid (AMPA) were 4.0 and 13.3 μg/kg, respectively. The LOD and LOQ values of GLUF, MPP, and N-acetyl glufosinate (NAG) were 2.0 and 6.7 μg/kg, respectively. Method accuracy was acquired by recovery test at three spiked levels (0.02, 0.05, 0.2 mg/kg). The average recoveries of five targets spiked in soil with low organic matter content were 74.2%-101%, and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 0.93%-6.8%; the average recoveries of the five targets spiked in soil with high organic matter content were 90.8%-116%, and the RSD was 0.40%-7.1%. The established method was used to determine 20 soil samples in peach orchard, and the detection rates of AMPA, GLY, MPP, GLUF and NAG were 45%, 25%, 10%, 5% and 5%, respectively. The maximum residues were 147, 35.2, 154, 21.6 and 11.0 μg/kg, respectively. This method is simple, rapid, green, inexpensive, allows pretreatment without organic reagents, and affords high accuracy, high sensitivity, and good reproducibility. The method is suitable for testing a large number of soil samples with different organic matter contents. It can provide reliable technical support for the study of residue status and environmental behavior in soil.