Determination of Organophosphorus Pesticides in Porcine Hair by a QuEChERS Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Protocol

The indiscriminate use of organophosphorus pesticides poses a great threat to human health because of harmful substance bioaccumulation. We developed a rapid and reliable method for the simultaneous determination of chlorpyrifos, isocarbophos, methamidophos, omethoate, and triazophos in procine hair. The targets were separated by a C-18 column (2.1 x 100 mm, 1.8 mu m) and analyzed by electrospray ionization using the positive mode of a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. The analytes had linear relationships from 1.0 to 100 mu g/kg. The correlation coefficients were all greater than 0.998. The limits of detection ranged from 0.4 to 0.9 mu g/kg, and the limits of quantification from 1.2 to 2.0 mu g/kg. The recoveries were from 76.1% to 106.2%. The intra-assay and inter-assay precision rates were from 1.6% to 4.4% and 2.3% to 6.9%, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day accuracy ranged from 2.5% to 9.3% and 3.2% to 8.9%, respectively. This method was a valid tool to monitor organophosphorus pesticides in breeding and livestock products.

Automated summary

The study presented a rapid and reliable method for simultaneous determination of organophosphorus pesticides in porcine hair, with linear relationships between 1.0 to 100 µg/kg and high accuracy and precision.