Optimization of solid phase microextraction procedure for determination of paraquat using reduction process

Headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was developed for the determination of paraquat in urine. The volatile product resulting from reduction of paraquat by sodium borohydride–nickel chloride was used for HS-SPME. The calibration curve was linear from 10–1000 ng/mL and the limit of detection was 0.1 ng/mL. The optimized methods were validated using 500 and 750 ng/mL concentrations of paraquat in the spiked urine samples. The recoveries obtained in this study were 98.2% for intra-day ( n = 6) and 99.2% for inter-day ( n = 6), respectively, with RSD lower than 1.1%.