Development of a Gas Chromatography - Tandem Mass Spectrometry Procedure for Determination of Pesticide Residues in Honey and Honeybee Samples

Abstract

A new analytical procedure of determination of multiresidue of pesticides based on application of the modified QuEChERS approach at the step of sample preparation and technique GC-MS/MS has been developed and applied for studies the real honey and honeybee samples. Samples were collected from northern Poland (Pomerania). The proposed procedure enables for the determination of 34 and 30 pesticide residues respectively in honey and honeybee samples. The recovery of analytes was between 70 and 120% with relative standard deviation ≤ 20%. The limits of quantification were in the range of 2.3-27 ng/g and 2.2-29 ng/g respectively for honey and honeybee samples. The proposed procedure was proven to be a powerful, highly sensitive, and environmentally friendly analytical tool that requires minimal sample preparation.