Captan: Problems Associated with its Identification in Environmental Materials and Food Products. Potential Solutions

Abstract

The study is devoted to identifying the ways in which captan can affect humans, including through the atmosphere and through food. The objects of the research were the following: the active substance (captan), air and a vegetable, namely sweet pepper. The equipment used included a chromato-mass-spectrometer «Agilent 5977А» with a gas chromatograph «Agilent Technologies-7890В», a liquid chromatograph «Agilent 1260» with a diode array detector and a liquid chromato-mass-spectrometer ExionLCAD/Qtrap 6500+. The method of gasliquid chromatography did not provide reproducible results, due to an unstable connection. Using techniques developed for the identification of captan in air, captan was determined using real samples collected during agricultural work. Captan content was reliably measured using samples taken from the air of the working environment (0,2 – 0,75 mg·m-3) and from the skin of operational staff (0,2 – 0,4 mg, using·wipes-1). In determining captan content in fruit and vegetable products, new and detailed methodological approaches were developed in order to minimise the matrix effect: a calibration curve was created based on the control matrix sample. The detection limit for captan was established at 0,01 mg·kg-1. In the analysis of actual sweet pepper samples, captan content was found to be below the detection limit.