Up to 7% of pesticide products in the European market are illegal, counterfeit or of poor quality. As a result, regulatory authorities are required to determine a wide variety of impurities in many different pesticide formulations. A simple, rapid and exceptionally reliable LC-MS-MS method for the determination of carbendazim residual quantities in sulphur formulations, used in organic agriculture, has been developed and validated. Linearity of response was established (R (2) = 0.9997) over a wide range of concentrations (0.01-2 microg/mL). Recovery ranged from 94% to 101%. LOD and LOQ were 0.003 microg/mL and 0.005 microg/mL, respectively, and lack of interference was confirmed.

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The presence of endosulfan in samples of African dust after a typical red dust storm in May 2007 was investigated. The samples were collected from a remote and mountainous area of Crete (Greece) where olive groves are cultivated. Endosulfan I, endosulfan II and endosulfan sulphate were detected at concentrations of 2.7, 1.4 and 1.1 ng/g, respectively, indicating that long range aeolian dust transport could be a possible source of contamination of olive cultivations.

Eight different hot springs (SPA) in Greece were monitored over a one-year survey for priority pesticide residues. A specific and effective procedure including solid phase extraction in combination with HPLC and GC analytical methods were applied. Samples that were sensitive to nitrogen-phosphorus (NPD) and/or electron capture (ECD) detectors were analysed by capillary gas chromatography. From the twenty-six water samples, pesticide residues were detected in fourteen of them (54%) but no one exceeding the European Union Maximum Acceptable Concentration (MAC). Lindane (gamma-BHC) was the most frequently detected pesticide. It was found in nine samples (35%) in concentrations from < 0.005 to 0.01 microg/L. Other pesticides detected were phorate (in five samples), propachlor (in two samples) and chlorpyriphos ethyl (in three samples) but in concentrations far below the permissible levels.

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