Determination of residues of the herbicides bromacil, lenacil and terbacil in soils by gas chromatography

Abstract

A rapid and sensitive procedure for the determination of residue levels of three uracil herbicides in soils is described. After addition of calcium hydroxide and Celite to the soil the herbicides are eluted from columns with water. After acidification of the eluate and partition into chloroform these herbicides are determined by gas chromatography using a nitrogen-selective detector. Recoveries from a range of soil types are better than 80%, with a sensitivity limit of 20 µg kg^–1.