Multi-residue environmental method for seed treatment insecticides, neonicotinoid degradation products, and fungicides using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with a new ionization source
摘要
Few methods provide simultaneous determination of multiple pesticides and degradation products in environmental samples using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). As LC–MS/MS method performance is significantly influenced by the type and design of the ion source, we compared three ion sources: electrospray ionization (ESI) source, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source and UniSpray™ ionization source. A gain in sensitivity was observed with UniSpray™ and ESI as compared to APCI source on the same instrument. Matrix effects in the three interfaces were evaluated in reagent water and wastewater extracts. UniSpray™ showed the lowest matrix effect among the three sources, with APCI exhibiting more pronounced signal enhancement. A solid-phase extraction method using the UniSpray™ source provides method detection limits (MDLs) ranging from 0.00189 to 0.0209 µg/L in extracts from water samples. Recoveries in water ranged up to 94.35%, with above 60% of the pesticides having an average recovery exceeding 70%.
Graphical Abstract