Research and Application of In Situ Sample-Processing Methods for Rapid Simultaneous Detection of Pyrethroid Pesticides in Vegetables

Bo Mei,Siwen Shen,Yinqing Ma,Meilian Chen,Bo Deng,Min Wang,Yiyi Han,Xia Wang,Weiyi Zhang,Dongsheng Feng,Chunyan Zhu,Hongkang Wang,Jinrong Tong,Mengfeng Gao

doi:10.3390/separations9030059

Abstract

A novel rapid and cost-effective pre-processing method for the simultaneous determination of pyrethroid pesticides in vegetables has been developed and validated. The process of pesticide extraction was carried out by the QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) method combined with filtration by filter paper, and cleanup was carried out by the multi-plug-filtration-cleanup (m-PFC) method with no centrifuge program during the whole process. The pre-processing method is optimized for gas chromatography (GC). The process is convenient and time saving, requiring just a few seconds per sample. The recovery rate (70–120%), limit of detection (0.0001–0.007 mg/kg), precision (0.2–9.3%) and accuracy for each analyte were determined in 10 representative vegetables with good results. Finally, the feasibility of the developed method was further confirmed by the successful determination of pyrethroid-pesticide residues in pyrethroid-containing practical samples within the processing method coupled with thin-layer chromatography and a colloidal-gold test strip.

Highlights

This study aimed to develop a novel, rapid, cost-effective, and time-saving preprocessing method for the simultaneous in situ determination of 10 pyrethroid pesticides in vegetables
Based on the previous work, this study developed a more practical preprocessing method suitable for in situ analysis by further improving and optimizing the m-PFC method
A rapid and efficient multi-residue method was developed for the determination of 10 pyrethroid pesticides in vegetables using new technology

Summary

Introduction

The widespread application of pyrethroids has caused contamination of environmental compartments and has led to the ongoing possibility of food-chain contamination, leading to the bioaccumulation of these insecticides in food products of animal origin, which will pose a threat to environmental and food quality [2,5]. Because of this risk to public health, many countries and organizations have set maximum-residue limits (MRLs) for pyrethroid pesticides in vegetables [6]

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Methods

Results

Conclusion