Determination of fipronil and its metabolites in egg samples by UHPLC coupled with Q-Exactive high resolution mass spectrometry after magnetic solid-phase extraction

Facial synthesis of fluorine-engineered magnetic covalent organic framework for selective and ultrasensitive determination of fipronil, its metabolites and analogs in food samples

To improve the adsorption affinity and selectivity of fipronils (FPNs), including fipronil, its metabolites and analogs, a magnetic covalent organic framework (Fe3O4@COF-F) with copious fluorine affinity sites was innovatively designed as an adsorbent of magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE). The enhanced surface area, pore size, crystallinity of Fe3O4@COF-F and its exponential adsorption capacities (187.3-231.5 mg g-1) towards fipronils were investigated. Combining MSPE with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), an analytical method was established for the selective determination of fipronils in milk and milk powder samples. This method achieved high sensitivity (LODs: 0.004-0.075 ng g-1), satisfactory repeatability and accuracy with spiked recoveries ranging from 89.9% to 100.3% (RSDs≤5.1%). Overall, the constructed Fe3O4@COF-F displayed great potential for the selective enrichment of fipronils, which could be ascribed to fluorine‑fluorine interaction. This method proposed a feasible and promising strategy for the development of functionalized COF and broadened its application in fluorine containing hazards detection.

Magnetic solid-phase extraction of tetracyclines from milk using metal-organic framework MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 functionalised hydrophilic magnetic nanoparticles

Novel metal-organic framework MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 functionalised hydrophilic polydopamine-modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PDA@MIL-101(Cr)-NH2) were synthesised and used as magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) adsorbents for extracting tetracyclines (TCs) from milk samples. The integrated Fe3O4@PDA@MIL-101(Cr)-NH2 exhibited convenient magnetic separation and exceptional multi-target binding capabilities. Furthermore, the PDA coating significantly enhanced the hydrophilicity and extraction efficiency of the material, thereby facilitating the extraction of trace TCs. Various factors affecting MSPE, such as adsorbent dosage, extraction time, pH value, and desorption conditions, were optimised. The developed MSPE method coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography demonstrated good linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9989), acceptable accuracy (82.2%-106.1%), good repeatability (intra-day precision of 0.8%-4.7% and inter-day precision of 1.1%-4.5%), low limits of detection (2.18-6.25 μg L-1), and low limits of quantification (6.54-18.75 μg L-1) in TCs detection. The approach was successfully used for the quantification of trace TCs in real milk samples.

Simultaneous Determination of Fipronil, Permethrin, and Their Key Related Substances in a Topical Drug Product by a Single Stability-Indicating High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method

BACKGROUND

The topical veterinary drug product containing fipronil and permethrin provides an effective repellent protection and high insecticidal efficacy for dogs.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to develop a stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for simultaneous detection and quantification of fipronil, permethrin, their key degradation products, and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) in a topical drug product.

METHOD

The two active ingredients, their degradation products, and the antioxidant (BHT) were separated by a gradient elution on a Phenomenex Kinetex C18 column (150 × 3 mm, 2.6 µm particle size) maintained at 37°C with H2O acetonitrile isopropyl alcohol 85% H3PO4 (65.5 + 32.5 + 4/0.0053, v/v/v/v) as mobile phase A and acetonitrile (100%) as mobile phase B. The flow rate was 0.9 mL/min, and analytes were detected and quantified at 235 nm.

RESULTS

The specificity of the method was demonstrated by adequate separation of fipronil, permethrin, their degradation products, and BHT in the forced degraded finished product. The linearity of the method was demonstrated in the range of 0.2% to 150% of target analytical concentration of both active ingredients and 50% to 150% for BHT. Excellent recoveries of fipronil, permethrin, and BHT in placebo spiked active ingredient solutions in the linearity range showed sufficient accuracy of the method. The LOQ and LOD of the method were determined to be 0.2% and 0.07% of the analytical concentration. A robustness study did not identify any critical parameter that adversely affected the separation and quantification.

CONCLUSIONS

Here, we report the development and validation of a robust, stability-indicating HPLC method for identification and assay of fipronil, permethrin, and BHT, including estimation of fipronil's and permethrin's degradation products in a topical drug product for dogs.

HIGHLIGHTS

The new HPLC method permits the acquisition of data for all analytes of interest for a topical finished drug product containing fipronil, permethrin, and BHT.

COF-SiO2@Fe3O4 Composite for Magnetic Solid-Phase Extraction of Pyrethroid Pesticides in Vegetables

Pyrethroid pesticides (PYRs) have found widespread application in agriculture for the protection of fruit and vegetable crops. Nonetheless, excessive usage or improper application may allow the residues to exceed the safe limits and pose a threat to consumer safety. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop efficient technologies for the elimination or trace detection of PYRs from vegetables. Here, a simple and efficient magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) strategy was developed for the simultaneous purification and enrichment of five PYRs in vegetables, employing the magnetic covalent organic framework nanomaterial COF-SiO2@Fe3O4 as an adsorbent. COF-SiO2@Fe3O4 was prepared by a straightforward solvothermal method, using Fe3O4 as a magnetic core and benzidine and 3,3,5,5-tetraaldehyde biphenyl as the two building units. COF-SiO2@Fe3O4 could effectively capture the targeted PYRs by virtue of its abundant π-electron system and hydroxyl groups. The impact of various experimental parameters on the extraction efficiency was investigated to optimize the MSPE conditions, including the adsorbent amount, extraction time, elution solvent type and elution time. Subsequently, method validation was conducted under the optimal conditions in conjunction with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Within the range of 5.00-100 μg·kg-1 (1.00-100 μg·kg-1 for bifenthrin and 2.5-100 μg·kg-1 for fenpropathrin), the five PYRs exhibited a strong linear relationship, with determination coefficients ranging from 0.9990 to 0.9997. The limits of detection (LODs) were 0.3-1.5 μg·kg-1, and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were 0.9-4.5 μg·kg-1. The recoveries were 80.2-116.7% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) below 7.0%. Finally, COF-SiO2@Fe3O4, NH2-SiO2@Fe3O4 and Fe3O4 were compared as MSPE adsorbents for PYRs. The results indicated that COF-SiO2@Fe3O4 was an efficient and rapid selective adsorbent for PYRs. This method holds promise for the determination of PYRs in real samples.

A new N/Fe doped carbon dot nanosurface molecularly imprinted polymethacrylate nanoprobe for trace fipronil with SERS/RRS dimode technique

The N and Fe doped carbon dot (CDNFe) was prepared by microwave procedure. Using CDNFe as the nano-substrate, fipronil (FL) as the template molecule and α-methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, the molecular imprinted polymethacrylic acid nanoprobe (CDNFe@MIP) with difunction was synthesized by microwave procedure. The CDNFe@MIP was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, and other techniques. The results show that the nanoprobe not only distinguish FL but also has a strong catalytic effect on the HAuCl4-Na2C2O4 nanogold indicator reaction. When the nanoprobes specifically recognize FL, their catalytic effect is significantly reduced. Since the AuNPs generated by HAuCl4 reduction have strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) effects, a SERS/RRS dual-mode sensing platform for detecting 5-500 ng/L FL was constructed. The new analytical method was applied to detect FL in food samples with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 3.3-8.1 % and a recovery rate of 94.6-104.5 %.

Development, validation, and use of a monitoring method for fipronil and its metabolites in chicken eggs by QuEChERS with online-SPE-LC-Q/Orbitrap analysis

RATIONALE

The residues of fipronil and its metabolites in chicken eggs pose a threat to human health, so regular monitoring is necessary. However, the pretreatments of the existing detection methods are complex and time-consuming. A simple and streamlined pretreatment method is needed to improve the detection efficiency.

METHOD

A rapid, efficient, and facile approach employing the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method with online solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography tandem Q Exactive Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (online-SPE-LC-HRMS) was established and evaluated for the determination of fipronil, fipronil-desulfinyl, fipronil-sulfone, and fipronil-sulfide in chicken eggs. An improved sample preparation technique combining QuEChERS and online-SPE was developed. Negative targeted ion fragmentation scanning and targeted-selected ion monitoring of HRMS were adopted to identify and quantify the target analytes.

RESULTS

The proposed pretreatment method took a few steps in <13 min to achieve excellent recoveries and negligible interference. High selectivity was acquired with the adoption of Q/Orbitrap HRMS. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of the analytes was 2.5 μg kg^-1 , meeting the detection requirements of the maximum residue level enacted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Japan, and the United States for the sum of fipronil and its metabolites. Extraction recoveries at three spiked concentration levels were within 84.56% to 93.84%, with relative standard deviation ≤5.87%.

CONCLUSION

The established method is efficient and easy to operate and displays satisfactory LOQs, recoveries, accuracy, and precision. This approach serves as a reference method for monitoring eggs while providing potential solutions for fipronil determination in more complicated matrices.

Novel fast pesticides extraction (FaPEx) strategy coupled with UHPLC-MS/MS for rapid monitoring of emerging pollutant fipronil and its metabolite in food and environmental samples

In this work, we demonstrated a new, environmental-friendly and effective sample preparation strategy named 'in-syringe-assisted fast pesticides extraction (FaPEx)' technique coupled with LC-MS/MS for the rapid identification and monitoring of emerging pollutant fipronil and its metabolite fipronil sulfone in chicken egg and environmental soil samples. FaPEx strategy comprising of two simple steps. Firstly, the sample was placed in the syringe and extracted using low-volume acetonitrile with NaCl and anhydrous MgSO₄ salts. Secondly, the extractant was passed through in-syringe-based solid-phase extraction (SPE) kit containing cleanup sorbents and salt combinations (C18, primary secondary amine, and anhydrous MgSO₄) for the cleanup process. Then, the obtained clean extractant was injected into LC-MS/MS for the quantification of target analytes. Various important parameters influencing the FaPEx performances, such as solvent type, salt type, salt amount, sorbent type, and amount, were examined and optimized. The method validation results showed excellent linearity with high correlation coefficients were ≥ 0.99. The estimated LODs were between 0.05-0.07 μg/kg, and LOQs ranged between 0.1-0.25 μg/kg for target analytes in both egg and soil sample matrices, and precision values were ≤7.90%. The developed method was applied to commercial chicken egg samples and environmental soil samples analysis. Spiked recoveries ranged between 88.75-110.91% for egg samples with RSDs ≤7.42% and 82.47-107.46% for soil samples with RSDs <7.37%. These results proved that the developed sample preparation method is a simple, fast, green, low-cost, and efficient method for the analysis of fipronil and its metabolites in food and environmental samples. Thus, this method can be applied as an alternative analytical methodology in routine and standard food and environmental testing laboratories.

Whole-Genome Sequencing of a Chlorimuron-Ethyl-Degrading Strain: Chenggangzhangella methanolivorans CHL1 and Its Degrading Enzymes

Chlorimuron-ethyl is a commonly used sulfonylurea herbicide, and its long-term residues cause serious environmental problems. Biodegradation of chlorimuron-ethyl is effective and feasible, and many degrading strains have been obtained, but still, the genes and enzymes involved in this degradation are often unclear. In this study, whole-genome sequencing was performed on chlorimuron-ethyl-degrading strain, Chenggangzhangella methanolivorans CHL1. The complete genome of strain CHL1 contains one circular chromosome of 5,542,510 bp and a G+C content of 68.17 mol%. Three genes, sulE, pnbA, and gst, were predicted to be involved in the degradation of chlorimuron-ethyl, and this was confirmed by gene knockout and gene complementation experiments. The three genes were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) to allow for the evaluation of the catalytic activities of the respective enzymes. The glutathione-S-transferase (GST) catalyzes the cleavage of the sulfonylurea bridge of chlorimuron-ethyl, and the esterases, PnbA and SulE, both de-esterify it. This study identifies three key functional genes of strain CHL1 that are involved in the degradation of chlorimuron-ethyl and also provides new approaches by which to construct engineered bacteria for the bioremediation of environments polluted with sulfonylurea herbicides. IMPORTANCE Chlorimuron-ethyl is a commonly used sulfonylurea herbicide, worldwide. However, its residues in soil and water have a potent toxicity toward sensitive crops and other organisms, such as microbes and aquatic algae, and this causes serious problems for the environment. Microbial degradation has been demonstrated to be a feasible and promising strategy by which to eliminate xenobiotics from the environment. Many chlorimuron-ethyl-degrading microorganisms have been reported, but few studies have investigated the genes and enzymes that are involved in the degradation. In this work, two esterase-encoding genes (sulE, pnbA) and a glutathione-S-transferase-encoding gene (gst) responsible for the detoxification of chlorimuron-ethyl by strain Chenggangzhangella methanolivorans CHL1 were identified, then cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). These key chlorimuron-ethyl-degrading enzymes are candidates for the construction of engineered bacteria to degrade this pesticide and enrich the resources for bioremediating environments polluted with sulfonylurea herbicides.