Determination of dithiocarbamates and milneb residues in foods by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A highly sensitive gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) method was developed for dithiocarbamates (DTCs) and milneb in foods. DTCs and milneb were extracted from foods with cysteine-EDTA solution as sodium salts, and methylated with methyl iodide. Methyl derivatives of DTCs and milneb were cleaned up on a neutral alumina mini column and determined by GC-MS. The mean recoveries of DTCs and milneb were in the range of 72-120%, except for methiram. The quantification limits were 0.01 mg/kg (as CS(2)) in foods except tea (0.1 mg/kg as CS(2)). The developed method was applied to 10 compounds (4 dimethyldithiocarbamates, 3 ethylenebisdithiocarbamates, polycarbamates, propineb and milneb).