Meeting Abstract
The herbicide atrazine (ATR) is heavily applied in agricultural areas in the Midwestern United States where its concentration can reach over 300 ppb. Previous studies have shown that exposure ATR causes changes in cytochrome P450 expression and glutathione-S-transferase activity in the virile crayfish, Faxonius virilis. To correlate physiological effects of ATR exposure with accumulation in the hepatopancreas and muscle tissue, we employed the QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) method for pesticide extraction from crayfish tissue. QuEChERS was coupled with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for quantitation of ATR and its metabolites in muscle and hepatopancreas tissue of crayfish. The developed method also includes the use of ATR-d5, an isotopic internal standard, to improve the accuracy and precision of the pesticide quantitation. Figures of merit including the detection limit, the limit of quantitation, and the dynamic range were determined. Additionally, spike recovery tests were performed. Recently, the QuEChERS method was modified to increase the purity of extracted pesticides and metabolites. The validated method will be used to quantitate the accumulation of ATR and its metabolites in crayfish tissue for comparison with physiological changes observed in crayfish after ATR exposure.
