Extensive
residues of neonicotinoids (neonics) have been demonstrated
in food and the environment by routine monitoring measurement, but
little is known about the residue levels in “ready to eat”
dietary samples. To obtain a more accurate picture of dietary exposure
to total neonics, an ultrasensitive and effective cleanup analytical
method for the quantification of neonics in dietary samples was established
on the basis of cold-induced phase separation and pre-column dilution
injection liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry.
A total of 10 neonics were quantified in ultratrace amounts (ng/kg)
using stable isotope dilution, with calibration curves spanning 4
orders of magnitude. Satisfactory accuracy (73.5–109.2% for
the recoveries) and precision (0.6–13.2% for the relative standard
deviation ranges) were obtained in method validation. Moreover, tolerable
absolute matrix effects (0.89–1.09) were also obtained in 12
kinds of dietary matrices with weak relative matrix effects (2.8–12.6%).
The validated method was applied to the dietary samples collected
from the Chinese Total Diet Study, and the results showed that 75%
of the samples were contaminated with at least one neonicotinoid.
Presently, the potential health risks
of neonicotinoid insecticides
(neonics) are now receiving much attention, but no data regarding
the exposure of infants to neonics via human breast milk intake have
been reported. In this study, a nationwide survey was conducted during
the period of 2017–2019, wherein 97 pooled breast milk samples
were collected from 3570 lactating women of 23 provinces in China.
Nationally, acetamiprid-N-desmethyl was the most
predominant compound, accounting for 61.2% of the total amount of
neonics, followed by imidacloprid (15.6%). The concentration of the
sum of acetamiprid and its metabolite acetamiprid-N-desmethyl in breast milk was positively correlated with corresponding
dietary exposure, while no statistically significant association between
the other neonic levels in breast milk and dietary exposure was found.
The cumulative daily intakes of neonics (9.40–249 ng kg–1 of body weight day–1) were estimated
for breastfed infants, indicating a minuscule risk to Chinese infants
from neonic exposure via breastfeeding.
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