Rapid and Easy Multiresidue Method for Determination of Pesticide Residues in Foods Using Gas or Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

“Rapid and easy” multiresidue methods for the determination of pesticide residues in foods have been developed. Table 1 summarizes these methods. The methods are based on a simple extraction with organic solvents, a purification with SPE cleanup, and determinations with GC-MS, GC-MS/MS, and LC-MS/MS. The proposed methods exhibited good sensitivity and recovery and allowed for rapid analysis. For agricultural products, a single chemist could prepare test solutions from 12 corresponding homogenized samples within 4.5 h. For processed foods, a single chemist could prepare test solutions for 12 corresponding homogenized samples within 6 h. Our method does not require special techniques in sample preparation. The characteristic points of the methods, “rapid and easy,” would induce substantial benefits: (a) reduction of time and costs for sample preparation, (b) reduction of time for mastering the operations, and (c) reduction of the errors within the procedures. These reductions would produce more time and money to simultaneously analyze more pesticides with better performance and to test the adaptation of new pesticides to this method. The methods described here have a high potential covering a wide range of pesticides. Thus, they would be applicable to various foods and ideally suited for use in regulatory laboratories.