Organotin pesticide residues

Kumpulainen, J. and P. Koivistoinen. 1977. Advances in tin compound analysis with special reference to organotin pesticide residues. Residue Rev. 66 1-18. 

Analysis of Organotin Pesticide Residues by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry... 

As mentioned previously, the formation of the methyl derivative is similar to several methods that already have been developed for organotin pesticides. The utilization of this derivative in conventional gas chromatographic residue procedures presents many challenges. Electron capture detection is sensitive enough but requires extensive clean-up while with FID and FPD the sensitivity is lower than desired. The development of a routine GC/MS procedure (single or multiple ion monitoring) was chosen then as the only possible alternative. A SIM (selective ion monitoring) method is specific for retention time and as well as for characteristic ions (m/e). 

The latter example points out the potential of the technique as a screening method for the identification of toxic organometallic compounds, for example, in pesticide residue analysis. With an initial screening of total Sn by ICP-MS in a survey on cyhexatin (an organotin acaricide), a limited number of suspect fruit samples (three out of 72) were identified and then submitted to confirmatory analysis with a GC-MS method [85]. This approach resulted in a 30 percent reduction of the survey cost in terms of staff hours. 

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