The QuEChERS method coupled to HPLC-QqQ-MS/MS for the determination of 25 banned pesticide residues in ethnic medicines

Abstract

Abstract Because of the excellent efficacy of ethnic medicines, their market demand is increasing rapidly. There are few methods to detect and screen banned pesticides in ethnic medicines. Therefore, it is highly urgent to establish a detection method for banned pesticides in ethnic medicines, which has important practical significance for the quality and safety supervision of ethnic medicines. This study aimed to establish a method for the simultaneous and rapid determination of 25 banned pesticides in ethnic medicine by QuEChERS combined with HPLC-QqQ-MS/MS. The limits of quantification were less than 8 ng/ml. The recoveries of most pesticides were between 70 and 110%, and their RSDs were less than 20%. To evaluate the applicability of this method, pesticide residues in 46 batches of ethnic medicines were analyzed, and the matrix effect behavior of pesticides in ethnic medicines was analyzed, providing a reference for the analysis of pesticide residues in ethnic medicine matrices of a similar type. Using matrix-matched calibration, it was found that one positive sample contained fonofos and four positive samples contained phorate pesticides. The contents of these pesticides exceeded the limits set by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.