Voltammetry of simazine

CHED 869

Kyle M. Henning and Jay H. Brown.
Simazine (2-chloro-4,4-bis(ethylamino)-s-triazine) is a triazine herbicide. It's used to control broadleaf weeds and annual grasses. The herbicide provides post-emergent protection by interfering with photosynthetic electron transport. Suitable crops can either degrade or safely metabolize the herbicide. Such crops include berries, nuts, vegetables, orchards, and vineyards. Simazine is also used to control weeds in industrial areas. (1)

The goal of our group is to develop an electro-analytical technique to quantify simazine in the low to sub-parts per billion (ppb) range using a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV).

Our developed method is based upon our group's earlier work on the herbicide atrazine. This work involves the standard additions method, calibration sensitivity, error analysis, and detection limit calculations. Such a method may be useful for industries interested in water quality measurements.

(1) See http://extoxnet.orst.edu (accessed 10/14/05)