Exploitation of micellar medium for photochemical-spectrofluorimetric flow-injection determination of fenvalerate

A photochemical flow-injection methodology for the fluorimetric determination of fenvalerate, a nonfluorescent pyrethroid pesticide, is proposed. The sample was irradiated by ultraviolet light inside a reaction coil in a nonstop mode and the photodegradation products were monitored by spectrofluorimetry at λ_exc=277 nm, λ_em=329 nm. The exploitation of a micellar medium resulted in a pronounced fluorescence enhancement with a concomitant tenfold sensitivity improvement. Several surfactants were evaluated, and best results were obtained with sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS). The calibration plot was linear within 2.0×10⁻⁶ and 1.0×10⁻⁵ mol l⁻¹ fenvalerate. The proposed system is very stable, handles 30 samples h⁻¹ and requires only 60 μmol SDS per determination. The detection limit is 5×10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹. The method was evaluated in the determination of fenvalerate in tap water.