Food Safety and Environmental Stewardship Program

The following pyrethrin and pyrethroid pesticides were determined in urine and water matrixes by liquid chromatography with diode array detection (LC-DAD): pyrethrin I, pyrethrin II, tetramethrin, baythroid, bifenthrin, fenvalerate, phenothrin, allethrin, resmethrin, cis-permethrin, and trans-permethrin. In addition, 3-phenoxybenzyl alcohol, a metabolite of various pyrethroids, was also successfully determined by the analytical method. The matrix extraction was simple, inexpensive, and fast, using only sodium chloride and acetonitrile. The acetonitrile extract was filtered and analyzed by LC-DAD. The method detection limits for the pyrethrin pesticides in 5 mL urine were determined to range from 0.002 to 0.04 microg/mL, depending on the individual pyrethrin. Recoveries from spiked tap water ranged from 77 to 96%; recoveries from urine ranged from 80 to 117%. This method is especially well-suited to clinical investigations, in which rapid analysis of forensic samples is often required.