This document describes a high-performance liquid chromatography method that uses fluorescence detection following post-column derivatization for enhanced sensitivity and selectivity. This method has become the method of choice for the analysis of carbamate residues in both food and water.
The document details an HPLC procedure for analyzing carbamate residues, which are polar and thermally unstable, making them difficult to analyze via gas chromatography. The method utilizes reversed-phase separation followed by post-column reaction with o-Phthalaldehyde (OPA) and 2-mercaptoethanol, detected by fluorescence.
The system provides detection limits at or below 1 ppb for common carbamate pesticide residues.
All of the compounds are well resolved within 30 minutes.
The retention time for Aldicarb is 23.2 minutes.