The potential of the cross-section (CS) approach incombination with the partial least squares (PLS) andprincipal component regression (PCR) was assessed inthe resolution of a complex pesticide mixture showingtwelve overlapped components in High PerformanceLiquid Chromatography with Diode Array Detection (HPLC-DAD). Careful selection of the CS through the three-dimensional (3D) (
A,
![](/images/gifchars/lambda.gif)
,
t) data matrix gave two-dimensional (2D) signals with the best sensitivity for thedetermination of each pesticide. In all cases, the application of the PLS method demonstrated a better quantitativeprediction ability than that of the PCR method. The CS-PLS approach is a powerful analytical tool. Ten pesticideswere well-resolved, while for the other two pesticides ofthe mixture prediction ability was poor, and they couldnot be determined, probably due to their low net analyticalsignal. The CS-PLS model was evaluated by predicting theconcentrations of independent test set samples. Finally,the proposed model was successfully applied for thedetermination of these pesticides in groundwater.