Analysis of Cationic Polar Pesticides in Fruits and Vegetables Using IC-MS/MS

Monitoring for Contaminants in Foods & Beverages
Oral Presentation

Presented by R. Jack
Prepared by J. Madden, R. Jack, J. Beck, T. Christison
Thermo Fisher Scientific, 490 Lakeside Drive, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085, United States


Contact Information: John.Madden@thermofisher.com; 408-737-0700


ABSTRACT

Polar cationic pesticides such as chlormequat, diquat, mepiquat, paraquat and propamocarb may occur as residues in food and vegetables, but may not be included in pesticide monitoring programs due to their difficulty in analysis using generic multi-residue methods. Recent advances using the Quick Polar Pesticides (QuPPe) method combined with ion chromatography-coupled triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (IC-MS/MS) have successfully demonstrated the applicability of this method for the analysis of anionic polar pesticides. However little development to date has been demonstrated for cationic polar pesticides. In this presentation, a Thermo Scientific Dionex ICS-5000+ Ion Chromatograph was coupled to a Thermo Scientific TSQ Quantis Mass Spectrometer for the analysis of cationic polar pesticides. A fast, sensitive, and robust method was developed to analyze 15 cationic polar pesticides. Throughput was measured at a 20-minute cycle time. Sensitivities for most analytes in a deionized water matrix was established at triple digit ppt to single digit ppb. Robustness of the method in food samples was also demonstrated with over 100 injections of a prune matrix. This work provides an efficient solution for analysis of polar pesticides using IC-MS/MS.