Determination of 18 pesticide residues in environmental water by solid phase extraction-ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

A method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 18 pesticide residues in environmental water by solid phase extraction-ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-UPLC-MS/MS). The samples were purified and enriched by a large-volume SPE apparatus through a Cleanrt®-PEP SPE column at a rate of 2 mL/min. After being concentrated 50-fold, the samples were detected by UPLC-MS/MS and quantified by the external standard method. The target compounds showed good linearity in the range of 0.5-50 μg/L, with linear correlation coefficients (R2) ≥0.995. At spiked levels of 10, 100 and 1000 ng/L, the average recoveries of the 18 pesticides in the three different environmental water samples were 71.3%-105.9%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs, n=5) were 1.3%-9.9%. LOQs of the 18 pesticides were 10 ng/L. The method was applied to the detection of the water environment around Tai'an City, and no pesticide residues were detected at any of the collection sites. The method has the advantages of good purification effect, high versatility, sensitivity, and accuracy, and operational simplicity. The method is suitable for the determination of the 18 pesticides in environmental water.