Determination of insecticides in honey by matrix solid-phase dispersion and gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection and mass spectrometric confirmation

A multiresidue method was developed for the determination of 12 organophosphorus insecticides (diazinon, parathion methyl, fenitrothion, pirimiphosmethyl, malathion, fenthion, chlorpyrifos, quinalphos, methidathion, ethion, azinphosmethyl, coumaphos), one carbamate (pirimicarb), and one amidine (amitraz) in unifloral and multifloral honeys. The analytical procedure was based on the matrix solid-phase dispersion of honey on a mixture of Florisil and anhydrous sodium sulfate in small glass columns and subsequent extraction with a low volume of hexane-ethyl acetate (90 + 10, v/v), assisted by sonication. The insecticide residues were determined by capillary chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection and confirmed by mass spectrometry. Average recoveries at the 0.05-0.5 microg/g levels were >80% for organophosphorus insecticides and about 60% for the other insecticides, pirimicarb and amitraz, with relative standard deviations <10%. The detection limit for the different insecticides ranged between 6 and 15 microg/kg. The main advantages of the proposed method are that extraction and cleanup are performed in a single step with a low volume of organic solvent. The method is simple, rapid, and less laborious than conventional methods. Several Spanish honeys were analyzed with the proposed method and no residues of the studied insecticides were found.