Patrizia Pelosi

Selective extraction of pyrethroid pesticide residues from milk by solid-matrix dispersion

A rapid procedure has been developed that allows a single-step, selective extraction and clean-up of pyrethroid (PYR) pesticide residues from milk dispersed on solid-matrix diatomaceous material filled into disposable cartridges and eluted by means of light petroleum saturated with acetonitrile and ethanol. The extract was cleaned up by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography. Determinations were carried out by gas chromatography with electron-capture detection. Recovery experiments were carried out on homogenized commercial milk (3.6% fat content) that was spiked with solutions of 14 PYR pesticides, viz., tefluthrin, tetramethrin, cyphenothrin, cyfluthrin, flucythrinate, fluvalinate, deltamethrin, bioallethrin, fenpropathrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, permethrin, alpha-cypermethrin, esfenvalerate and tralomethrin, at levels ranging from 0.04 to 0.41 mg/kg for the different PYR pesticides. Average recoveries were in the range 60-119% for the different PYR pesticides, with relative standard deviations from ca. 2.5 to 14.4%. Coextracted fatty material amounted to an average of ca. 5 mg/ml of milk. The sole extraction step requires about 30 min. The main advantages of the procedure are that extraction of PYR pesticides (with a minimum carry over of fat) is performed in a single step, emulsions do not occur, several samples can be run in parallel by a single operator, reusable glassware is not needed and simple operations are required.

Estimation of intake of organochlorine pesticides and chlorobiphenyls through edible fishes from the Italian Adriatic Sea during 1997

Abstract To evaluate the levels of contamination of the Adriatic Sea, Italy and to assess the intake of organochlorine (OC) pesticides and polychlorobiphenyls by the general Italian population through seafood, a survey involving 12 species of fish, shellfish and crustaceans has been carried out. Samples have been collected from October to December 1997 from local fishermen and were representative of the Northern, Central and Southern Adriatic Sea. The results from samples collected during autumn 1997 are presented. All samples contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at different levels. Among these, PCB 170, 180, 187, 153, 138, 118, 101, 105, 52 were the most frequently and abundantly found. Samples most contaminated by PCBs were mackerel, cod, red mullet and anchovy. The sum of the determined PCBs (limit of determination: 0.05 ng/g for each congener) ranged from 12.42 to 88.17 ng/g. Samples from the North Adriatic Sea appear to be slightly more contaminated than those from the South Adriatic Sea. Among the OC pesticides, essentially only p,p′-DDE and p,p′-DDD were found, with the former appearing at levels up to 25.00 ng/g (ppb) wet weight. For those OC pesticides for which an acceptable daily intake (ADI) is available, estimated daily intake were calculated for the general Italian population, and it is significantly lower than the pertinent ADI.

Selective, solid-matrix dispersion extraction of organophosphate pesticide residues from milk

A rapid procedure has been developed that allows a single-step, selective extraction and cleanup of organophosphate (OP) pesticide residues from milk dispersed on solid-matrix diatomaceous material filled into disposable cartridges by means of light petroleum saturated with acetonitrile and ethanol. Recovery experiments were carried out on homogenized commercial milk (3.6% fat content) spiked with ethanolic solutions of 24 OP pesticides, viz., ethoprophos, diazinon, dimethoate, chlorpyrifos-methyl, parathion-methyl, chlorpyrifos-ethyl, malathion, isofenphos, quinalphos, ethion, pyrazophos, azinphosethyl, heptenophos, omethoate, fonofos, pirimiphos-methyl, fenitrothion, parathion, chlorfenvinphos, phenthoate, methidathion, triazophos, phosalone, azinphos-methyl, at levels ranging for the different OP pesticides from 0.02 mg/kg to 1.11 mg/kg. Average recoveries of four replicates were in the range 72-109% for the different OP pesticides, with relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) from ca. 1 to 19%, while dimethoate and omethoate were not recovered. Coextracted fatty material amounted to an average of about 4.0 mg/ml of milk. The extraction procedure requires about 30 min. The main advantages are that extraction and cleanup are carried out in a single step, emulsions do not occur, several samples can be run in parallel by a single operator, reusable glassware is not needed and simple operations are required.

Single-step separation of organochlorine pesticide residues from fatty materials by combined use of solid-matrix partition and C18 cartridges

A rapid single-step partition step between n-hexane and acetonitrile on a two-cartridge system composed of Extrelut-3 with a C18 cartridge connected downstream has been developed for the separation of organochlorine (OC) pesticide residues from oils and fats. The extract is cleaned up by Florisil minicolumn chromatography before gas chromatography with electron-capture detection. Carry over of fatty material through the partition step is in the order of 4–40 mg for ca. 1.0 g of different oil or fats loaded on the two-cartridge system. Recoveries of 15 OC pesticides from ca. 1 g of soya oil spiked were between 70 and 103% (except HCB=ca. 60%) at spiking levels in the range 0.02–0.1 mg/kg.

Selective clean-up applicable to aqueous acetone extracts for the determination of carbendazim and thiabendazole in fruits and vegetables by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection

Fungicide residues in vegetables (benomyl, carbendazim, thiabendazole) are analyzed through a clean-up procedure that uses a portion of the aqueous acetone extract prepared for multiresidue methodology. A portion of the aqueous acetone extract (equivalent to 5 g of vegetables) is loaded onto an Extrelut-20 cartridge (the cartridge is filled with a coarse, large-pore diatomaceous material). Then, acetone is partially removed by an upward stream of nitrogen at 2l/min for 30 min. Benzimidazolic fungicides are recovered by percolating the cartridge with 100 ml of 0.1 M phosphoric acid solution, which also serves to convert benomyl to carbendazim. The percolating acid solution is drained on-line through a strong cation-exchange (SCX) solid-phase extraction cartridge with the aid of a slight vacuum. Benzimidazolic fungicides are retained on the SCX cartridge. The phosphoric acid solution is discarded together with the washings of the SCX cartridge, i.e., water followed by methanol-water (75:25), that remove unwanted coextractives. Finally, benzimidazolic fungicides are recovered by eluting the SCX cartridge with methanol-ammonium formate buffer (75:25). The final extract is then analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC with UV detection. Recoveries from crops such as apples, lettuce, strawberries and citrus fruits are generally greater than 80% and no interferences were observed. The clean-up is simple and straightforward, requires only disposable items, water solutions and a few milliliters of solvent and a minimum number of manipulations, and does not require concentration steps or electrical equipment.

Determination of pyrethroid pesticide residues in fatty materials by solid-matrix dispersion partition followed by mini-column, size-exclusion chromatography

The method studied uses a combination of a solid-matrix dispersion partition (SMDP) followed by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography on a minicolumn (HPmSEC) of 7.8 mm I.D. for the separation of pyrethroid (PYR) residues from fatty material. The solid-matrix dispersion extraction is carried out by absorbing a fat solution onto an Extrelut-3 cartridge (filled with a macroporous diatomaceous material) and extracting the PYR residues with acetonitrile. Up to 1 g of fatty material can be extracted with 15 ml acetonitrile. The small amount (mean +/- S.D. = 12.4 +/- 5.9 mg) of fatty material which is eluted into the acetonitrile is further removed by HPmSEC. PYR pesticide residues are collected in a 2-ml fraction between 7 and 9 ml, the column being washed up to 24 ml. The two techniques used in series allow a better removal of fat, a greater input of sample and a lower consumption of solvent compared to the sole SEC on macrocolumns, and a lower limit of determination compared to the sole SEC on minicolumns. Recoveries of 9 PYR out of the 14 investigated residues from soya oil were in the range 66-83% at spiking levels ranging 0.49-2.57 mg/kg, while for 6 PYR residues tested at spiking levels in the range 0.13-0.53 mg/kg the recoveries were in the range 80-111%. Recovery of fluvalinate and permethrin could not be calculated due to interferences from soya oil, while lambda-cyhalothrin, esfenvalerate and tralomethrin gave low recovery. The final extract contains small amount (mean +/- S.D. = 2.4 +/- 0.9 mg) of lipid residue and is not completely free from interferences.

Simplified clean-up for the determination of benzimidazolic fungicides by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection

Abstract A method was developed that allows the determination of benomyl, carbendazim (MBC), thiophanate methyl (TFM) as carbendazim and thiabendazole (TBZ) by HPLC with UV detection. After extraction and cyclization of TFM into MBC, the conversion of benomyl into MBC is carried out by absorbing the raw extract on a ready-to-use, disposable column of a macroporous Kieselghur-type material and percolating 0.1 M HCl through it. Benzimidazolic residues are partitioned into the acid solution whereas most of the co-extractives are retained on the column. The final clean-up is performed on a strong cation-exchange (SCX) cartridge. The determination of MBC and TBZ is carried out by HPLC-UV detection on a polymeric reversed-phase column eluted with a water-ecetonitrile (70 : 30). Recoveries of MBC and TBZ from pear, apple, orange, grape, kiwi, tomato and lettuce, spiked at levels of 0.22 and 0.88 mg/kg, were satisfactory (70%). The main features of the method include high selectivity towards MBC and TBZ, reduced consumption of reagents and solvents, reduced handling operations, lack of emulsions and the use of disposable items.

Solid-phase extraction for multi-residue analysis of pesticides in honey

A fast and simple multi-residue method for the analysis of 15 organophosphorus (OP), 17 organochlorine (OC), 8 pyrethroids (PYR), 12 N-methyl-carbamate (NMC) pesticide residues and bromopropylate in honey is presented. Ready–to–use EXtrelut®NT 20 column, eluted with dichloromethane, was used to extract the pesticide residues from the aqueous-acetone honey sample, obtaining a clean extract directly analyzable. Determination was carried out by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with flame photometric detector (FPD) for OP compounds and by GC coupled with mass spectrometry detector (MSD) for OC and PYR pesticides and bromopropylate. The NMC pesticides were analysed by liquid chromatography-double derivatization coupled with spectrofluorimetric detector (LC/DD/Fl). This method allows the determination of the 53 pesticide residues at low concentrations (0.0005–0.074 mg/kg) and can be used to assess the compliance with the Maximum Residues Levels (MRLs) set by the European Union. The performance of the method was evaluated and specificity, linearity, recovery, repeatability, reproducibility, limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) were determined. A good linearity (r2⩾ 0.99) was found in the range 0.0005–0.074 mg/kg for the majority of the compounds studied. Most of the pesticides had recoveries in the range 70–103 % and values of relative standard deviation (RSD) < 20 for repeatability and reproducibility, showing good accuracy and precision of the method. Aldicarb partially degraded in aldicarb sulphoxide during the analytical procedure, giving anomalous values. The LOQ for all pesticides investigated was from 0.0005 to 0.025 mg/kg while the LOD ranged from 0.0002 to 0.008 mg/kg.

Clean-up of aqueous acetone vegetable extracts by solid-matrix partition for pyrethroid residue determination by gas chromatography—electron-capture detection

Disposable, ready-to-use cartridges filled with macroporous diatomaceous material are used to carry out a partition clean-up that, in a single step, is capable of transferring pesticide residues from aqueous acetone extracts into light petroleum-dichloromethane (75:25, v/v). This procedure takes the place of some functions (such as separatory-funnel partition, drying over anhydrous sodium sulphate and partial adsorption clean-up) usually performed by separate steps in classical schemes. Fourteen pyrethroid pesticides, including tefluthrin, tetramethrin, cyphenothrin, cyfluthrin, flucythrinate, tau-fluvalinate, deltamethrin, bioallethrin, fenpropathrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, permethrin, alpha-cypermethrin, esfenvalerate and tralomethrin were determined using the described procedure with satisfactory recoveries for most of them, at spiking levels ranging from 0.08 to 0.82 mg/kg for the different compounds. Crops subjected to the described procedure included strawberry, apple, and orange gave extracts containing a mass of co-extractives that was between 5 and 30 mg. Compared with classical schemes, the described procedure is simple, less labour intensive, allows parallel handling of several extracts and does not require the preparation and maintenance of equipment. Troublesome emulsions such as those frequently observed in separation funnel partitioning do not occur.

Determination of pesticide residues in animal origin baby foods by gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

A simple, fast and multiresidue method for the determination of pesticide residues in baby foods of animal origin has been developed in order to check the compliance with the Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) set at a general value of 0.01 mg/kg by Commission Directive 2006/125/EC for infant foods. The main classes of organochlorine, organophosphorus and pyrethroid compounds have been considered, which are mainly fat soluble pesticides. The analytical procedure consists in the extraction of baby food samples by acetonitrile (ACN) followed by a clean up using C18 solid-phase extraction column eluted with ACN. The compounds were determined by gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry equipped with a Programmed Temperature Vaporizer (PTV) injection and a backflush system. In order to compensate for matrix effects PTV and matrix matched standard calibrations have been used. The method has been fully validated for 57 pesticides according to the Document SANCO/12571/2013. Accuracy and precision (repeatability) have been studied by recoveries at two spiking levels, the Limit of Quantitation (LOQ) (0.003–0.008 mg/kg) and 10 time greater (0.03–0.08 mg/kg), and the results were in the acceptable range of 70–120% with Relative Standards Deviations (RSD) ≤20%. Selectivity, linearity, LOQ and uncertainty of measurement were also determined for all the compounds. The method has been also applied for the analysis of 18 baby food animal origin samples, bought form the local market in Rome (Italy), and no pesticide in the scope of the method has been found above the MRL or the LOQ.