Detection of the pesticide compound 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) using fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Fluorine-19 nuclear magnetic resonance (19F NMR) spectroscopic measurements were used to determine the chemical nature and amounts of organofluorine in dosed meat baits. Earlier work implied that sodium monofluoroacetate (compound 1080) in meat baits was broken down into other organofluorine compounds such as fluorocitrate. No chemical evidence was found for such compounds. Only monofluoroacetate was detected in the prepared 1080 bait samples. Once the baits have aged, aqueous extraction fails to recover all the added 1080. Analysis using 19F NMR confirmed that the 1080 present in the aqueous extracts of the bait is recovered by Kramer's liquid chromatography method. It was shown here that the aqueous extracts do not recover all the 1080 in the meat bait.