Multiresidue method for determination of 90 pesticides in fresh fruits and vegetables using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Simultaneous determination of three neonicotinoid insecticide residues and their metabolite in cucumbers and soil by QuEChERS clean up and liquid chromatography with diode-array detection

A new method was developed for the simultaneous determination of three neonicotinoid insecticides with their metabolite in cucumbers and soil based on QuEChERS as a pretreatment procedure.

Enantioselective Dissipation of Acephate and Its Metabolite, Methamidophos, during Tea Cultivation, Manufacturing, and Infusion

The enantioselective dissipation of acephate and its metabolite, methamidophos, was investigated during tea cultivation, manufacturing, and infusion, using QuEChERS sample preparation technique and gas chromatography coupled with a BGB-176 chiral column. Results showed that (+)-acephate and (-)-acephate dissipated following first-order kinetics in fresh tea leaves with half-lives of 1.8 and 1.9 days, respectively. Acephate was degraded into a more toxic metabolite, methamidophos. Preferential dissipation and translocation of (+)-acephate may exist in tea shoots, and (-)-methamidophos was degraded more rapidly than (+)-methamidophos. During tea manufacturing, drying and spreading (or withering) played important roles in the dissipation of acephate enantiomers. The enantiometic fractions of acephate changed from 0.495-0.496 to 0.479-0.486 (P ≤ 0.0081), whereas those of methamidophos changed from 0.576-0.630 to 0.568-0.645 (P ≤ 0.0366 except for green tea manufacturing on day 1), from fresh tea leaves to made tea. In addition, high transfer rates (>80%) and significant enantioselectivity (P ≤ 0.0042) of both acephate and its metabolite occurred during tea brewing.

Multi-residue method for determination of 238 pesticides in Chinese cabbage and cucumber by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: comparison of different purification procedures

This paper describes the comparison of five sample cleanup procedures for the determination of 238 pesticides via triple quadrupole liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS, with only 10 min of chromatographic running time) in Chinese cabbage and cucumber. Samples were extracted with a quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuECHERS) preparation method and cleanup with different sorbents, including primary secondary amine (PSA), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and polystyrene (PLS), to find out the most suitable cleanup methods for Chinese cabbage and cucumber. The recovery and matrix effect were evaluated by monitoring the main parameters in one group of 238 pesticides at the spiked level of 8 and 40 μg/kg. In Chinese cabbage, when PSA dispersive solid-phase extraction (D-SPE) was applied, recoveries of 183 pesticides ranged between 70 and 120% with relative standard deviation (RSD) values lower than 20% at a spiked level of 40 μg/kg, indicating the effectiveness of the purification step. In cucumber, 203 pesticides were in the 70-120% recovery range with good reproducibility by PSA mini-cartridge column cleanup at a spiked level of 40 μg/kg and RSD values were generally below 20%. The limits of quantitation [LOQs; signal-to-noise (S/N) = 10] were in the range of 0.16-10.20 μg/kg for Chinese cabbage and 0.06-21.06 μg/kg for cucumber, while the limits of detection (LODs; S/N = 3) were between 0.05 and 3.06 μg/kg and between 0.02 and 6.32 μg/kg in Chinese cabbage and cucumber, respectively. The proposed methods that might be applied for the multi-residue analysis in Chinese cabbage and cucumber are contributed to their rapid speed and good recoveries.

Organochlorine pesticides and pyrethroids in Chinese tea by screening and confirmatory detection using GC-NCI-MS and GC-MS/MS

One hundred and one tea samples including green tea, dark tea, scented tea, black tea, and oolong tea were screened and confirmed for the contamination of 31 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and 19 pyrethroids (PYs) by gas chromatography-negative chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (GC-NCI-MS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). 50 pesticides, 3 deuterium-labeled PYs, and 24 (13)C-labeled OCPs were separated well with the limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.02 to 4.5 μg/kg for GC-NCI-MS, and the positive samples were verified by GC-MS/MS with LODs of 0.1-5.0 μg/kg. High detection rates for some PYs, such as 63.4% for bifenthrin (not detected (ND)-3.848 mg/kg), 55.4% for λ-cyhalothrin (ND-3.244 mg/kg), 46.5% for cypermethrin (ND-0.499 mg/kg), and 24.8% for fenvalerate (ND-0.217 mg/kg), were found in the 101 tea samples. Endosulfan, DDTs, HCHs, and heptachlor, the persistent OCPs, were frequently detected with rates of 63.4% (ND-1.802 mg/kg), 56.4% (ND-0.411 mg/kg), 24.8% (ND-0.377 mg/kg), and 15.8% (ND-0.100 mg/kg), respectively.

Persistence behaviour of fungicide tebuconazole in a viticulture application

Dissipation pattern and risk assessment of tebuconazole in grapes was studied following two application rates (250 and 500 mL ha(-1)) under tropical humid climatic condition of West Bengal during 2009-2010. Residues of tebuconazole were confirmed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The average recoveries were found 87.53 % and 89.67 % for grapes and cropped soil respectively. Following the first order kinetics the fungicide dissipates in grapes with a half-life (T1/2) value ranges between 2.62 and 2.86 days irrespective of seasons and doses. No residues of tebuconazole were detected in harvest grapes and soil samples which refers that, tebuconazole does not possess any background contamination property in grapes. So it may be concluded from the study that tebuconazole does not possess any toxicological property when applied at the recommended dose.

[Study of multi-residue method for determining pesticide residues in processed foods manufactured from agricultural products by LC-MS/MS]

A rapid multi-residue method for determination of pesticide residues in processed foods manufactured from agricultural products was examined. Five mL water was added to 5 g sample in a polypropylene tube, and the tube was left to stand at room temperature for 30 min. Then, 20 mL acetonitrile was added to the sample. The mixture was homogenized in a high-speed homogenizer, followed by salting out with 1 g NaCl and 4 g anhydrous MgSO4. After centrifugation, the organic layer was purified on a graphitized carbon/PSA cartridge column. After removal of the solvent, the extract was resolved in methanol-water and analyzed with LC-MS/MS. The recoveries of 93 pesticides fortified into 5 kinds of processed foods [Chinese cabbage kimchi, marmalade, raisin, umeboshi (pickled plum) and worcester sauce] were examined at the concentrations of 0.02 and 0.1 μg/g (n=5). The recoveries of 61 pesticides in all foods were 70-120% with relative standard deviation below 20% at both concentrations. Seventy-four processed foods obtained from markets in Japan were examined with this method. Pesticide residues over the maximum residue limit (0.01 μg/g) were detected in 2 processed foods.

Pesticide residues in Portuguese strawberries grown in 2009-2010 using integrated pest management and organic farming

Pesticides are among the most widely used chemicals in the world. Because of the widespread use of agricultural chemicals in food production, people are exposed to low levels of pesticide residues through their diets. Scientists do not yet have a total understanding of the health effects of these pesticide residues. This work aims to determine differences in terms of pesticide residue content in Portuguese strawberries grown using different agriculture practices. The Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe sample preparation method was conducted and shown to have good performance for multiclass pesticides extraction in strawberries. The screening of 25 pesticides residue was performed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. In quantitative validation, acceptable performances were achieved with recoveries of 70-120 and <12 % residual standard deviation for 25 pesticides. Good linearity was obtained for all the target compounds, with highly satisfactory repeatability. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.1-28 μg/kg. The method was applied to analyze strawberry samples from organic and integrated pest management (IPM) practices harvested in 2009-2010. The results showed the presence of fludioxonil, bifenthrin, mepanipyrim, tolylfluanid, cyprodinil, tetraconazole, and malathion when using IPM below the maximum residue levels.

A novel green analytical procedure for monitoring of azoxystrobin in water samples by a flow injection chemiluminescence method with off-line ultrasonic treatment

A simple and green flow injection chemiluminescence (FI-CL) method for determination of the fungicide azoxystrobin was described for the first time. CL signal was generated when azoxystrobin was injected into a mixed stream of luminol and KMnO4 . The CL signal of azoxystrobin could be greatly improved when an off-line ultrasonic treatment was adopted. Meanwhile, the signal intensity increases with the analyte concentration proportionally. Several variables, such as the ultrasonic parameters, flow rate of reagents, concentrations of sodium hydroxide solution and CL reagents (potassium permanganate, luminol) were investigated, and the optimal CL conditions were obtained. Under optimal conditions, the linear range of 1-100 ng/mL for azoxystrobin was obtained and the detection limit (3σ) was determined as 0.13 ng/mL. The relative standard deviation was 1.5% for 10 consecutive measurements of 20 ng/mL azoxystrobin. The method has been applied to the determination of azoxystrobin residues in water samples.

Safety methods for chlorpyrifos removal from date fruits and its relation with sugars, phenolics and antioxidant capacity of fruits

The effectiveness of different postharvest wash treatments at two levels (10 and 20 g/l) for different dipping times was determined to remove chlorpyrifos from date fruits treated at concentration of 2 mg/l. The recovered amount of chlorpyrifos was extracted based on the solid phase extraction (SPE) method and then analyzed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results demonstrate that the removal of chlorpyrifos increased in the order of acetic acid (AA)> citric acid (CA)> hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)> potassium permanganate (KMnO4)> running water (H2O), and the percent of pesticide residue on date fruits depended on the concentration of tested washing treatments and dipping time without the formation of the toxic by-product, chlorpyrifos-oxon. Kinetic studies revealed that chlorpyrifos was found to be more easily removable from date fruits treated with the tested chemical solutions with t1/2 values of 12-29 min compared with roughly 53 min in case of running water. The impact of these washing treatments on quality of date fruits illustrated that all treatments exerted a little negative effect on total sugars content but H2O2 and KMnO4 at level of 2 % had more drastic effect. Whereas, running water, 10 and 20 g/l CA caused significant increases in total phenolic contents, during all the tested contact times compared with control. Except the insignificant effect of KMnO4 treatments, antioxidant capacity of date fruits tended to increase in all wash treatments, when the contact times were 5 or 15 min.

Residue dynamics of pyraclostrobin in peanut and field soil by QuEChERS and LC-MS/MS

A modified QuEChERS-LC-MS/MS (acronym of quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry) method for the analysis of pyraclostrobin residue in peanut and soil was developed and validated. Pyraclostrobin residue dynamics and final residues in supervised field trials at Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) conditions in peanut and soil were studied. The limits of quantitation (LOQs) for pyraclostrobin in soil, plant, shell and peanut samples were 0.00057, 0.00026, 0.003 and 0.0037 mg kg(-1), respectively. At fortification levels of 0.005, 0.05 and 0.5 mg kg(-1) in all samples, it was shown that recoveries ranged from 80.3% to 109.4% with relative standard deviations of 1.1-8.2% (n=5). The dissipation experiments showed the half-lives (T(1/2)) of pyraclostrobin in soil and plants were 13.1-16.5 days and 10.3-11.2 days, respectively. At pre-harvest intervals (PHI) of 14, 21 and 28 days, pyraclostrobin residue were 0.005-0.20 mg kg(-1) in soil, 0.006-0.27 mg kg(-1) in plants, below 0.053 mg kg(-1) in shells and not detectable in peanuts.

Development, validation, and uncertainty measurement of multi-residue analysis of organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides using pressurized liquid extraction and dispersive-SPE techniques

Simple and efficient multi-residue analytical methods were developed and validated for the determination of 13 organochlorine and 17 organophosphorous pesticides from soil, spinach and eggplant. Techniques namely accelerated solvent extraction and dispersive SPE were used for sample preparations. The recovery studies were carried out by spiking the samples at three concentration levels (1 limit of quantification (LOQ), 5 LOQ, and 10 LOQ). The methods were subjected to a thorough validation procedure. The mean recovery for soil, spinach and eggplant were in the range of 70-120% with median CV (%) below 10%. The total uncertainty was evaluated taking four main independent sources viz., weighing, purity of the standard, GC calibration curve and repeatability under consideration. The expanded uncertainty was well below 10% for most of the pesticides and the rest fell in the range of 10-20%.

Immobilization of rat brain acetylcholinesterase on porous gold-nanoparticle-CaCO₃ hybrid material modified Au electrode for detection of organophosphorous insecticides

An acetylcholinesterase (AChE) purified from rat brain was immobilized onto gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) assembled on the surface of porous calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)) microsphere. The resulting AChE-AuNPs-CaCO(3) bioconjugate was mounted on the surface of Au electrode with the help of silica sol-gel matrix to prepare the working electrode. This electrode was connected to Ag/AgCl (3M/saturated KCl) as standard and Pt wire as an auxiliary electrode through a potentiostat to construct an organophosphorus (OP) biosensor. The biosensor was based on inhibition of AChE by OP compounds/insecticides. The biosensor showed optimum response at pH 7.0, 30°C, when polarized at +0.2V. Two OP compounds, malathion and chlorpyrifos could be detected in the range of 0.1-100 nM and 0.1-70 nM, respectively at 2.0-3.0% inhibition level of AChE. The sensor was reactivated by immersing it in 0.1 mM 2-pyridine aldoxime for 10 min. The detection limit of the sensor was 0.1 nM for both malathion and chlorpyrifos. The biosensor exhibited good reusability (50 times without considerable loss) and storage stability (50% within 60 days, when stored at 4°C).