Determination of bromethalin in commercial rodenticides found in consumer product samples by HPLC-UV-vis spectrophotometry and HPLC-negative-ion APCI-MS.

A small amount of green particulate material is encountered in a consumer complaint sample. The green particulates in the sample are identified as a bromethalin-containing rodenticide using high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC)-UV-vis spectrophotometric and HPLC-negative-ion atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)-mass spectrometric (MS) approaches, which are commonly used for the detection and confirmation of bromethalin in grain-based rodenticides. The selective and sensitive nature of the MS detector makes it possible to determine bromethalin without extensive sample cleanup and preconcentration. The estimated detection limit with the UV-vis detector is 500 pg of bromethalin injected into the column. The extensive fragmentation of the bromethalin molecule under APCI conditions provides sufficient structural information for positive identification.