Determination of residual bromopropylate and coumaphos in honey and honeycomb by capillary gas chromatography.

This study describes a method for the quantitative determination of residual bromopropylate (BP) and coumaphos (Cph) in honey and honeycomb. It is based on a reversed phase extraction technique on sorbent octadecyl. Both phyto-pharmaceuticals are determined by electron-capture using a fused silica capillary column CP Sil 5 CB. The absolute detection limit for BP and Cph is 2.5 and 5 pg, respectively. Recoveries of 99.6% and 94.4% are obtained for samples fortified at levels of 400 micrograms BP/kg and 1,000 micrograms Cph/kg. Twelve samples of honey and 8 samples of honey-honeycomb have been analysed using this method. BP and Cph could not be detected in the honey samples. Samples of honey-honeycomb recently treated with Perizin (Cph) and Folbex VA (BP) contained different amounts of BP and Cph.