ABSTRACT
Glyphosate (GLYPH) is used as a herbicide in lawns, gardens, and agriculture. The toxicity of this compound, however, unlike many other herbicides, is of low order. This herbicide is also known as glyphosphate and roundup. Both GLYPH and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) are found at trace levels in many environmental waters. They can be measured precisely by both high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Several methods are documented in the research literature for the analysis of GLYPH, AMPA, and glufosinate residues in different matrices including water, soil, sludge, fruits, and vegetables. M. P. De Llasera and others have described a method of quantitative extraction of GLYPH and AMPA residues from tomato fruits followed by their derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethylchloroformate (FMOC) and detection by HPLC fluorescence. The minimum detection limit by the HPLC method has been reported to be 25 µg/L by direct injection and can be reached to 0.5 µg/L following concentration steps.
