Applications of solid‐phase micro‐extraction with mass spectrometry in pesticide analysis

Pesticides, widely applied in agriculture, can produce a variety of transformation products and their continuous use causes deleterious effects to ecosystem. Efficient and sensitive analytical techniques for enrichment and analysis of pesticides samples are highly required. Compared with other extraction methods, solid‐phase micro extraction is a solvent free, cost effective, robust, versatile, and high throughput sample preparation technique, especially for the analysis of pesticides from complicated matrices. Coupling of solid‐phase micro extraction with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry has been extensively applied in pesticide analysis. On the other hand, in recent years, combination of fast separation using solid‐phase micro extraction and rapid detection using ambient mass spectrometry is providing highly efficient pesticide screening. This article summarizes the applications of solid‐phase micro extraction coupled to mass spectrometry for pesticides analysis.     

Current methods of analysis for the determination of trichothecene mycotoxins in food

This article describes the trends in analytical techniques for the determination of trichothecene mycotoxins, namely deoxynivalenol, and T-2 and HT-2 toxins in cereals and cereal products with particular emphasis on screening and rapid approaches. The driving force behind the changing methodologies is mainly attributed to legislative demands. However, for commercial and governmental testing laboratories, the need to use validated official methods is ever increasing to ensure quality assurance of results.Much research has been undertaken to improve screening assays, highlighted by the number of new methods using a variety of formats and platforms, including optical and electrochemical biosensors. Significant advances in the traditional reference methods have also been demonstrated in addition to the emergence of a variety of commercial immunoaffinity and solid-phase extraction columns for clean up. The use of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry for mycotoxin detection is ever increasing, allowing simultaneous determination of many toxins in various sample matrices.     

Simultaneous determination of cyanobacterial hepato-and neurotoxins in water samples by ion-pair supported enrichment and HPLC-ESI-MS-MS

Summary Cyanobacterial neurotoxins, such as anatoxin-a and saxitoxin, as well as hepatotoxins including microcystins and nodularin were simultaneously determined in water samples by ion-pair supported, solid phase extraction (SPE) and reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to UV and tandem mass spectrometry (RP-LC-UV; MS-MS). With quantification limits in water samples of approximately 50 ng L⁻¹ for the microcystins (MC-LR,-YR,-RR,-LA), nodularin, and anatoxin-a and 630 ng L⁻¹ for saxitoxin the method is well suited for surveillance of the proposed WHO guidelines for cyanobacterial toxins. MS detection permits, unlike the commonly used UV detection, unambiguous identification and accurate quantification of cyanobacterial toxins even in highly matrix-polluted, water samples.     

Ionic liquids as desorption solvents and memory effect suppressors in heterocyclic aromatic amines determination by SPME–HPLC fluorescence

The beneficial effects of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIm-BF₄) ionic liquid (IL) as mobile phase additive, desorption solvent, and memory effect suppressor in solid-phase microextraction (SPME)–high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection for the determination of six heterocyclic aromatic amines have been evaluated for the first time. Several chromatographic parameters have been evaluated in the presence or absence of IL or using triethylamine as the most common mobile phase additive, with a Nova-Pak® C18 stationary phase. This IL was found to be clearly superior to triethylamine for efficiency as well as peak shape enhancement and sensitivity increase. SPME was chosen because it is faster than conventional extraction techniques and allowed us to minimize the use of organic solvents. However, memory effect may become a problem when a high-sensitivity detector is used. The appropriate conditions for the desorption step and to eliminate the memory effect involving BMIm-BF₄ were established and optimized. The method was applied for the determination of these compounds in commercial meat extracts.     

固相萃取-高效液相色谱法同时测定食品中4种合成色素

以可代替使用的水溶性合成色素-亮黑BN、固绿FCF、酸性红、酸性黄36为研究对象,建立了高效液相色谱同时测定食品中4种合成色素的方法。样品通过WAX固相萃取柱富集净化,10%氨化甲醇洗脱,采用C18色谱柱分离,以甲醇和10 mmol/L乙酸铵水溶液作为流动相梯度洗脱,外标法定量。通过固相萃取柱净化后,杂质对待测物的干扰明显降低,优化色谱条件下,4种色素在0.10~10.0 mg/L质量浓度范围内,线性良好,相关系数(r)≥0.9995。方法回收率为92.6%~101.8%,相对标准偏差(RSD)≤5.4%,方法检出限为0.01~0.04 mg/kg。该方法灵敏度高,准确可靠,适合食品中亮黑BN、固绿FCF、酸性红、酸性黄36的同时测定。     

固相微萃取萃取头制备技术及试验方法的进展

 在阐述固相微萃取的平衡理论及非平衡理论基础上,重点探讨了萃取头的制备技术和相关试验方法的进展。除了介绍商品化通用萃取头的制备技术外,还论述了溶胶-凝胶法、电沉积法、碳素基体吸附法、高温环氧树脂固定法等新的制备技术;探讨了固相微萃取试验方法中萃取模式和萃取头的选择、萃取条件优化以及方法的灵敏度、精度、自动化等的评价;进一步总结了固相微萃取的应用现状,对固相微萃取的发展方向作了展望。     

Novel approaches in analysis of Fusarium mycotoxins in cereals employing ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry

Rapid, simple and cost-effective analytical methods with performance characteristics matching regulatory requirements are needed for effective control of occurrence of Fusarium toxins in cereals and cereal-based products to which they might be transferred during processing. Within this study, two alternative approaches enabling retrospective data analysis and identification of unknown signals in sample extracts have been implemented and validated for determination of 11 major Fusarium toxins. In both cases, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (U-HPLC) coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (HR MS) was employed. ¹³C isotopically labeled surrogates as well as matrix-matched standards were employed for quantification. As far as time of flight mass analyzer (TOF-MS) was a detection tool, the use of modified QuEChERS (quick easy cheap effective rugged and safe) sample preparation procedure, widely employed in multi-pesticides residue analysis, was shown as an optimal approach to obtain low detection limits. The second challenging alternative, enabling direct analysis of crude extract, was the use of mass analyzer based on Orbitrap technology. In addition to demonstration of full compliance of the new methods with Commission Regulation (EC) No. 401/2006, also their potential to be used for confirmatory purposes according to Commission Decision 2002/657/EC has been critically assessed.     

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on a supramolecular solvent followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of lignans in Forsythiae Fructus

A supramolecular solvent-based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction was proposed for the extraction and determination of lignans in Forsythiae Fructus combined with high-performance liquid chromatography. The supramolecular solvent, consisting of tetrabutylammonium bromide and n-hexanol, was mixed with the sample solution to extract the analytes by a vortex. After accomplishing the extraction, the extraction phase was separated by centrifugation and collected for high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. In this work, the important extraction variables such as the type and amount of extraction solvent, pH and salt amount in the sample phase, and extraction time were optimized. The synthesis of supramolecular solvent was studied and its microstructure was characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Under the optimal conditions, the analytes’ enrichment factors were between 6 and 170 for the proposed procedure. Satisfactory linear ranges (r ≥ 0.99), detection limits (0.025–0.4 ng/ml), precisions (< 9.2%), and accuracies (recoveries: 96.5%–104.8%) were obtained. The method has been successfully applied to the preconcentration of lignans in Forsythiae Fructus with simple and rapid operation, low cost, and environmental friendliness.