Determination of residual fipronil and its metabolites in food samples: A review

Background: Fipronil is an effective phenylpyrazole insecticide commonly used in agriculture for pest control. In creature, fipronil could be metabolized to several more toxic metabolites. These compounds can contaminate or migrate into foodstuffs and potentially pose danger to human health. Scope and approach: This review aims to provide a comprehensive review on the determination methods used for fipronil and its metabolites, including gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector (LC-UV), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and other fast screening techniques. Detailed information regarding sample preparation, separation and detection condition, and methodological result is provided. Key findings: GC-ECD is quite fit for these fluorine-rich analytes, GC-MS method has good selectivity and sensitivity, but they take long time for separation. LC based methods have advantage in fast separation, but LC-UV method isn't satisfactory for low sensitivity, LC-MS is the most preferred technique at the expense of expensive instrument. At last, new directions and perspectives are discussed.