Determination of two antifouling booster biocides and their degradation products in marine sediments by high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection Original Research Article

A method for the simultaneous determination of two antifouling booster biocides, diuron [1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3,3-dimethylurea] and irgarol 1051 (2-methylthio-4-tert-butylamino-6-cyclopropylamino-s-triazine) and their degradation products, DCPMU [1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-methylurea], DCPU [1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl) urea], DCA [3,4-dichloroaniline] and M1 (2-methylthio-4-tert-butylamino-s-triazine), in marine sediments by high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection (HPLC–DAD) was developed. The extraction of these compounds from sediment was achieved by means of methanolic ultrasonic extraction. The optimization of the extraction procedure included the variation of the volume of the extraction solvent, the amount of the extracted sediment, the duration and the temperature of sonication. C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges were used for the cleaning of the extracts. The relative standard deviations (R.S.Ds) of the developed procedure was <10% for all the tested compounds, except for DCA, where R.S.Ds up to 15% were obtained. Satisfactory recoveries were obtained (higher than 80% for all substances), except for DCA, which gave a recovery in the range of 35–50%. The limits of detection (LODs) of the substances varied between 1.7 (DCPU) and 4.0 (DCPMU) ng g−1 of dry sediment.