Determination of acetochlor in technical and formulated products by capillary gas chromatography

A peer-verified gas chromatographic (GC) method is presented for the weight percent (wt %) determination of acetochlor herbicide in technical and formulated products. During method development, the method was found to be rugged by the Youden Ruggedness Test. Two laboratories with experience in the wt % determination of acetochlor in various matrixes participated in this study. Each laboratory received 10 blind duplicate test samples of the following 5 matrixes: one acetochlor technical and 4, different, emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulations—Harness® EC (MON 5841), Harness ® Export/Fist (MON 8435), Surpass® EC (HF), and Surpass ® EC (LF). Each participant was asked to make duplicate weighings of each of the test samples and to inject each test sample solution twice. All test samples were analyzed on the same day, and 8 data points (replicates) per matrix were obtained. The test samples were dissolved in acetone that contained dipentyl phthalate as an internal standard. They were analyzed by GC on a 15 m capillary column by using split injection and a flame ionization detector. Acetochlor (wt %) was determined by comparing the ratios of peak area of acetochlor/peak area of dipentyl phthalate internal standard obtained for the test sample and calibration solutions. Repeatability of the method, expressed as the within-laboratory (between replicates) relative standard deviation (RSDr), was found to be 0.09–0.77% for the 5 matrixes. Reproducibility of the method, expressed as the within-test sample relative standard deviation (RSDR), was found to be 0.18–0.78% for the 5 matrixes.