Evaluation of the QuEChERS Method with GC-MS Detection for the Determination of Organochlorine Pesticides in Food of Animal Origin

Abstract

This paper reports the evaluation of the Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) method for the determination of organochlorine pesticide residues in food of animal origin with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry detection. There is a very little information about sample preparation method for the determination of pesticide residues in food of animal origin in the literature. Moreover, any example of application of the QuEChERS method for the determination of pesticide residues in food of animal origin has not been reported as yet. The results showed that the best recovery ratios from 75 to 112 % were obtained for the method with primary secondary amine, C18 sorbents and evaporation to dryness and dissolving the residues in hexane with relative standard deviation lower than 10 % for most compounds. The limit of quantification ranged from 0.0015 to 0.0071 mg kg−1. This method was also used for the determination of pesticide residues in 15 samples of pork ham. In 12 samples, low concentrations of DDT or its metabolites and isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane were detected. Heptachlor epoxide and α-chlordane were determined in one sample and HCB in two samples. There were no exceedances of maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the determined pesticides in any of the analysed samples.