Pesticide residues on cotton textiles

Gas chromatography.
© Fraunhofer IGB
Purge and Trap gas chromatography.

Initial situation and problem definition

On behalf of the Institute of Textile Technology and Process Engineering Denkendorf, cotton that was processed under different conditions and for different applications was tested for residues of insecticides, fungicides and ethylene glycol as a conversion product of ethylene oxide.

Solution

Various sample preparation methods and chromatographic detection methods (GC / ECD, GC / NPD, GC / MS) have been successfully developed for the detection of these substances. Depending on the processing state and the appearance of the cotton, different concentrations of insecticides could be detected.