Determination of 20 Neonicotinoid Insecticides and Their Metabolites in Infant Foods by a Modified QuEChERS Method Combined with HPLC-MS/MS

Abstract

A rapid, effective, and reliable method for the simultaneous detection of 20 neonicotinoids and their metabolites in infant foods has been developed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). To improve the accuracy and precision of the method, different extraction solvents, extraction methods, and adsorbents were evaluated to achieve a better recovery and clean-up effect. Under optimized conditions, the samples were extracted with acetic acid acidified acetonitrile/ethyl acetate by ultrasonication, and then were cleaned with reduced graphene oxide@Fe3O4 (rGO@Fe3O4) and primary and secondary amine (PSA) through a QuEChERS step. A matrix-matched calibration method was applied for quantification. Relative standard deviations were all <15% for intraday and interday precision. The values of limit of detection and limit of quantification were ranging from 0.02–0.35 μg·kg−1 and 0.1–1.0 μg·kg−1, respectively. The presented method was applied to the analysis of real samples.

Evaluation of various commercial lipid removal sorbents for the detection of 18 neonicotinoid insecticides and their metabolites in meat by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

“…Several analytical instruments such as gas chromatography (GC) [11], high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) [12,13], high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) [14], ion chromatography (IC) [15], capillary electrophoresis (CE) [16] and immunoassay [17] are routinely employed for the detection of neonicotinoid residues in food. Among these devices, HPLC-MS is the most favored due to its reliability, sensitivity, and selectivity.…”