Monitoring residue levels and dietary risk assessment of pymetrozine for Chinese consumption of cauliflower

The present study investigates the occurrence of pymetrozine residues in cauliflower samples obtained from six cauliflower‐producing areas of China during fixed time periods in 2017 and estimates the dietary risk of pymetrozine in cauliflower. A liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated to detect pymetrozine in cauliflower. The samples were extracted using 20 mL of acetonitrile and purified with dispersive solid‐phase extraction using C₁₈ as sorbent. The limit of quantification of pymetrozine was 0.008 mg/kg in cauliflower. The recoveries of the analyte were 82.04–95.18% with RSD <8.45%. The calibration curves for pymetrozine showed good linearities in the concentration range 0.004–2.0 mg/L with determination coefficients (R²) >0.999. Pymetrozine dissipated rapidly in cauliflower with a half‐life of <4 days. The terminal residues of pymetrozine were <0.008–0.0881 mg/kg in cauliflower at 7, 10 and 14 days after spraying from six sites. The routine washing process removed about half amount of the pymetrozine in cauliflower; the reduction ratios were 51.0–52.8%. The dietary risk assessment indicated that pymetrozine did not exhibit obvious dietary health risks in cauliflower when good agricultural practices were implemented.