Robustness, reproducibility, reliability with best-in-class sensitivity:

Robustness, reproducibility, reliability with best-in-class sensitivity: Increased confidence in targeted quantitation of pesticides in food matrices

Goal

To present a fully tested LC-MS/MS methodology for rapid and robust quantitation of more than 250 pesticides below maximum residue limits (MRLs) with sensitivity, accuracy, and precision that meets stringent EU guidelines.

Introduction

Pesticides are chemicals used on crops to protect them from the negative activity of pests. As inappropriate application of a pesticide can result in serious health issues, determination of pesticide residues in foods and food products is an important part of routine food control. The European Union (EU) legislation (European Regulation 396/2005 and Commission Directive 2006/125/EC), currently the strictest regulations, sets maximum residue limits of pesticides in various products of plant and animal origin. These regulations present significant analytical challenges due to the low limits of quantitation (LOQ) required in certain food matrices.

This application note presents a multi-residue analysis method that uses a comprehensive liquid chromatography—triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) solution, the Thermo Scientific™ Pesticide Explorer Collection Standard Quantitation solution, for rapid and robust quantitation of more than 250 pesticides below their maximum residue limits. The solution includes the Thermo Scientific™ QuEChERS sample preparation kit, Thermo Scientific™ Vanquish™ Flex Binary UHPLC system, Thermo Scientific™ TSQ Quantis™ triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, Thermo Scientific™ TraceFinder™ software, Thermo Scientific™ Accucore™ aQ C18 Polar Endcapped LC column, and method parameters to provide a start-tofinish workflow for pesticide analysis. The method results comply with the stringent EU guidelines concerning sensitivity, accuracy and precision.