EXTRACTION AND DETECTION OF PENTOBARBITAL IN SOIL BY SOLID PHASE EXTRACTION AND LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY / MASS SPECTROMETRY

Abstract

A method for detecting the pharmaceutical drug, pentobarbital, in the complex matrix soil has been developed and will be detailed in this thesis. Of growing concern is the release of pharmaceuticals in the environment. Pentobarbital is an organic compound in the barbiturate family that is used often in the euthanasia of animals. Once these animals are buried, pentobarbital may leach into the surrounding soil and become a source of contamination. Satisfactory recoveries of the pentobarbital from soil indicate LC/MS coupled with solid phase extraction is an effective method for analysis and detection. Pre-concentration via solid phase extraction allowed 0.001 mg of pentobarbital per 5 grams of soil (200 ppb) to be detectable at limits of quantification using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. This method is suitable for larger quantities of soil and applicable for a wide range of soil types.

This method has further applications in determining the decay and dispersion of pentobarbital in soil. Other applications include studying soil bacterium that possess an enzyme reported to be capable of breaking down pentobarbital into its metabolites.