Determination of more than 500 Pesticide Residues in Hen Eggs by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS/MS)

Abstract

This study aims to validate a fast method of simultaneous analysis of 365 LC-amenable and 142 GC-amenable pesticides in hen eggs by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), respectively, operating in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) acquisition modes. The sample preparation was based on quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) extraction. Key method performance parameters investigated were specificity, linearity, limit of quantification (LOQ), accuracy, precision and measurement uncertainty. The method was validated at two spiking levels (10 and 50 μg/kg), and good recoveries (70%–120%) and relative standard deviations (RSDs) (≤20) were achieved for 92.9% of LC-amenable and 86.6% of GC-amenable pesticide residues. The LOQs were ≤10 μg/kg for 94.2% of LC-amenable and 92.3% of GC-amenable pesticides. The validated method was further applied to 100 egg samples from caged hens, and none of the pesticides was quantified.