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A multiresidue method based on extraction with ethyl acetate has been used at the Swedish National Food Administration since 1989 to monitor pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables. The method has been continuously adjusted, resulting in simple and quick analyses of pesticide residues. To recover basic pesticides, the addition of an alkali is necessary. The addition of sodium hydrogen carbonate has been shown to recover all pesticides effectively without any degradation. The liquid chromatography (LC) with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) technique has made it possible to analyse more polar pesticides and to replace many single methods. The latest development in the multiresidue method, comprising the use of gas chromatography (GC) with MS/MS, has further improved the analysis by replacing the conventional GC detectors. The need for cleanup has been reduced or eliminated entirely. Consequently, the method has been simplified in a way that makes it possible to recover all included analytes in many different matrices in one single extraction and to detect them either with GC-MS/MS or with LC-MS/MS.

Moist snuff, or snus, on the Swedish market in 2001 and 2002 was analyzed for tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines (TSNAs) using a recently developed LC-MS/MS method. All samples of moist snuff analyzed were found to contain detectable levels of N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN), N'-nitrosoanatabine (NAT), N'-nitrosoanabasine (NAB), and 4-(N-methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK). In the survey in 2001, all samples except for one were produced by Swedish Match (n = 14), which is the dominating manufacturer on the Swedish snuff market. In the survey in 2002, samples from both Swedish Match (n = 7) and seven smaller manufacturers (n = 20) were analyzed. Total TSNA levels of between 0.15 and 3.0 microg/g wet weight were found. In the survey in 2001 and 2002, the mean level of the total TSNA content in moist snuff was 1.1 microg/g (n = 14) and 1.0 microg/g (n = 27), respectively. The result of the survey shows that the level of TSNAs in moist snuff on the Swedish market has been greatly reduced since the middle of the 1980s. Clearly, efforts have been made by the manufacturers to reduce the level of TSNAs in snuff.

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