Blood is one of the most assessable matrices for the determination of pesticide residue exposure in humans. Effective sample preparation/cleanup of biological samples is very important in the development of a sensitive, reproducible, and robust method. In the present study, a simple, cost-effective, and rapid gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method has been developed and validated for simultaneous analysis of 31 multiclass (organophosphates, organochlorines, and synthetic pyrethroids) pesticide residues in human plasma by means of a mini QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) method. We have adopted a modified version of the QuEChERS method, which is primarily used for pesticide residue analysis in food commodities. The QuEChERS method was optimized by use of different extraction solvents and different amounts and combinations of salts and sorbents (primary-secondary amines and C) for the dispersive solid-phase extraction step. The results show that a combination of ethyl acetate with 2% acetic acid, magnesium sulfate (0.4 g), and solid-phase extraction for sample cleanup with primary-secondary amines (50 mg) per 1-mL volume of plasma is the most suitable for generating acceptable results with high recoveries for all multiclass pesticides from human plasma. The mean recovery ranged from 74% to 109% for all the analytes. The limit of quantification and limit of detection of the method ranged from 0.12 to 13.53 ng mL and from 0.04 to 4.10 ng mL respectively. The intraday precision and the interday precision of the method were 6% or less and 11% or less respectively. This method would be useful for the analysis of a wide range of pesticides of interest in a small volume of clinical and/or forensic samples to support biomonitoring and toxicological applications. Graphical Abstract Pesticide residues analysis in human plasma using mini QuEChERS method.

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In this study, the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method was applied for the analysis of the multiclass pesticide residues of 12 organochlorines (OCs), 9 organophosphates (OPs), 11 synthetic pyrethroids (SPs), 4 herbicides, 6 phthalates in raw tea (loose tea, branded tea and herbal tea), and tea infusion in 4 different containers (glass cup, earthen cup, plastic bag and disposal cup). In loose tea and branded tea residues, malathion (0.257 and 0.118 mg kg), cypermethrin (0.065 and 0.030 mg kg), and fenvalerate (0.032 and 0.030 mg kg) were detected, respectively. In herbal tea, residues of only cypermethrin (0.053 mg kg) and fenvalerate (0.045 mg kg) were detected. Tea infusion samples contained in a plastic bag were found to be contaminated with only dibutyl phthalate (DBP) (0.038 mg kg). Disposable cup was found to be contaminated with DBP (0.026 mg kg) and diethyl phthalate (DEP) (0.004 mg kg). Further, to know the processing behavior of pesticides, the spiked raw tea was subjected to tea infusion at different brewing times (2, 5, 10 min). The analysis demonstrated that dimethoate, dichlorvos, and malathion had shown more than 10 % of translocation at 5 min of brewing time. Further brewing for 10 min revealed the reduction in concentration of pesticides. Leaching of phthalate residues from different plastic containers was also studied at 10, 30, and 60 min. DBP, benzyl butyl phthalate (BzBP), and di-2-(ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were leached in the tea infusion samples packed in plastic bags. On the other hand, in disposable cups, leaching of DBP, DEP, and dimethyl phthalate were found. The concentration of phthalate residues increased with retention time. Pesticide and phthalate contaminants were recorded at low quantities in few samples only.

A total of 162 samples of different varieties of mango: Deshehari, Langra, Safeda in three growing stages (Pre-mature, Unripe and Ripe) were collected from Lucknow, India, and analyzed for the presence of seventeen organophosphate pesticide residues. The QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) method of extraction coupled with gas chromatography was validated for pesticides and qualitatively confirmed by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry. The method was validated with different concentrations of mixture of seventeen organophosphate pesticides (0.05, 0.10, 0.50 mg kg−1) in mango. The average recovery varied from 70.20% to 95.25% with less than 10% relative standard deviation. The limit of quantification of different pesticides ranged from 0.007 to 0.033 mg kg−1. Out of seventeen organophosphate pesticides only malathion and chlorpyriphos were detected. Approximately 20% of the mango samples have shown the presence of these two pesticides. The malathion residues ranged from ND-1.407 mg kg−1 and chlorpyriphos ND-0.313 mg kg−1 which is well below the maximum residues limit (PFA-1954). In three varieties of mango at different stages from unpeeled to peeled sample reduction of malathion and chlorpyriphos ranged from 35.48%–100% and 46.66%–100% respectively. The estimated daily intake of malathion ranged from 0.032 to 0.121 µg kg−1 and chlorpyriphos ranged from zero to 0.022 µg kg−1 body weight from three different stages of mango. The hazard indices ranged from 0.0015 to 0.0060 for malathion and zero to 0.0022 for chlorpyriphos. It is therefore indicated that seasonal consumption of these three varieties of mango may not pose any health hazards for the population of Lucknow, city, India because the hazard indices for malathion and chlorpyriphos residues were below to one.