scope:

Specifies methods for the extraction and clean-up of non-fatty food samples for quantitative determination of pesticide residues. Different solvents can be used for this purpose. These pesticide residues are generally associated with other co-extracted compounds which would interfere in the analysis. To purify the crude extracts to be analysed, several techniques can be used. This standard contains the following extraction and clean-up methods that have been subjected to interlaboratory studies and/or are adopted throughout Europe:- method L: Extraction with acetone, liquid-liquid partition with dichloromethane and clean-up on a silica gel/charcoal column; - method M: Extraction with acetone and liquid-liquid partition with dichloromethane/light petroleum, if necessary clean[up on Florisil; - method N: Extraction with acetone, liquid-liquid partition with dichloromethane and clean-up with gel permeation and silica gel chromatography; - method O: Extraction with acetonitrile, liquid-liquid partition with light petroleum and clean-up on a Florisil column; - method P: Extraction of organophosphorus compounds with ethyl acetate, and if necessary, clean-up by gel permeation chromatography. This standard specifies the details of methods L to P for the extraction and the clean-up of samples of non-fatty food. Several solvents at different volumes are used for extraction. Techniques of clean-up are listed such as liquid-liquid partition, liquid chromatography on various adsorbents and gel permeation chromatography. A table providing the couples (matrix/pesticide) which have been submitted to collaborative studies and a list of indicative applicability of the method to different pesticides are given for each method, wherever possible.