CENTENNIAL HONORS COLLEGE
Western Illinois University
Undergraduate Research Day 2016
PosterPresentation
RachelCrews
MethodDevelopmentforDetectionofAtrazineviaGC-FID
FacultyMentor:BrianBellott
ForensicChemistry
Herbicidesarecommonlyusedforagriculturalpurposes.Acommonherbicideisatrazinewhichisused
inordertopreventgrowthofbroad-leafplantsthatobstructcorngrowth.Unfortunately,atrazineisa
contaminantinfreshwatersourcesandisveryharmfultotheecosystemaswellashumansbecauseitis
a known highly toxic mutagen. Therefore it is very important to regulate the amount of atrazine in
freshwater sources such as Spring Lake outside of Macomb, IL which is Macomb’s supply of drinking
water.UsinganextractionmethodforatrazineproposedbytheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA),
amethodforthedetectionofatrazinehasbeenpreparedusingagaschromatography-flameionization
detector(GC-FID).Twooftheparametersthathavebeenimprovedforthedetectionofatrazinearethe
split ratio and the injection volume. Our method reduces the overall volume of dichloromethane
requiredfortheextraction.Thisisanimprovementasorganicsolventsareharmfultotheenvironment
and they are costly. Also by using solid phase extraction it allows for determination of atrazine
concentrations in a more efficient manner. This reduces the cost of analysis as well as increases the
throughputofsamples.Ourcurrentfindingswillbepresentedaswellasfuturedirectionswehopeto
undertaketofurtherimproveourdetectionmethod.