DETERMINATION OF MALATHION IN PESTICIDE FORMULATION BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Abstract

A new, simple, fast and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for determination of an active ingredient malathion in the pesticide formulation has been developed. Successful separation and quantification of malathion were achieved using Purospher STAR RP-18e (30 x 4 mm, 3 µm) and isocratic elution with mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile/water (47/53, V/V), flow rate of 1 mL/min, constant column temperature at 25 °C and UV detection at 220 nm. The specificity, selectivity, linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were tested for the method validation according to the CIPAC and SANCO guidelines. The obtained values for multiple correlation coefficients (R2 > 0.99), relative standard deviation (RSD) of retention times and peak areas (RSD ≤ 0.64%), and recoveries ranged from 101.04 to 101.84 %, revealed that the developed method has an excellent linearity, precision of retention time and peak area and accuracy. The proposed method was successfully applied for determination of an active ingredient malathion in the emulsifiable concentrate (EC) “Etiol techni” for a run time of 4 min.