Photodegradation and flow-injection determination of simetryn herbicide by luminol chemiluminescence detection

A novel and simple flow injection chemiluminescence method is reported for the determination of simetryn, a common herbicide. The method is based on the direct oxidation of luminol by the photoproducts of the simetryn in alkaline medium in the absence of catalyst/oxidant. The linear concentration range was 0.01 - 2 mu g mL(-1) simetryn with a correlation coefficient (r(2)) of 0.9997 and relative standard deviations (RSD; n = 4) in the range of 0.9 - 2.3%. The limit of detection (S/N = 3) was 7.5 ng mL(-1) with a sample throughput of 100 h(-1). The proposed method has been applied to determine simetryn in natural waters using Sep-Pak C-18 cartridges for solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure. The recoveries were in the range of 97 +/- 1 to 104 +/- 2%. The mechanism of chemiluminescence reaction has also been discussed briefly.