Recent Developments in QuEChERS Methodology for Pesticide Multiresidue Analysis

Recent Developments in QuEChERS Methodology for Pesticide Multiresidue Analysis 

Michelangelo Anastassiades, Ellen Scherbaum, Bunyamin Ta delen, Darinka Stajnbaher 

QuEChERS, which stands for Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe, is one of those new-generation sample preparation methods for pesticide multiresidue analysis [1]. Although very recently introduced (development between 2000-2002, publication in 2003), the method has been widely embraced by the international pesticide residue analysts community and is already being used in numerous laboratories worldwide [2-6]. Aiming to deliver an economical and 

With the implementation of the original QuEChERS-method in our pesticide residue analysis laboratory in 2002, and the associated validation experiments for numerous pesticides in different representative commodities, it soon became clear that some amendments to the original procedure had to be introduced to improve the recoveries of certain pH-dependent pesticides and to expand the spectrum of commodities amenable to the method. The routine use of the method furthermore raised the need to further improve its selectivity in order to enhance the robustness of determinative analysis. The modifications introduced are subject of this paper. 

Pesticide standards Prepare stock solutions thereof in acetonitrile or acetone (e.g., 1 mg/mL) working standard solutions of individual pesticides or mixtures thereof are prepared by appropriately diluting the stock solutions with acetonitrile. 

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Anastassiades, M., Scherbaum, E., Tasdelen, B., and Stajnbaher, D., (2007) Recent developments in QuEChERS methodology for pesticide multiresidue analysis, ini Pesticide Chemistry, Crop Protection, Public Health, Environmental Safety (eds Hideo Ohkawa, Hisashi Miyagawa, and Philip W. Lee) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA. 

Recent trends in pesticide analysis in food aims for reduced sample pretreatments or simplified methodologies (as QuEChERS approaches), the use of online purification processes, the use of new adsorbents (such as molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) and nanomaterials) for the extraction and clean-up processes, and focused on the development of large multiresidue methods, most of them based on LC-MS/ MS. In spite of the relevant role of LC-MS/MS, GC-MS-based methods still play an important role in pesticide analysis in food. Despite the development achieved in the immunochemical approaches, the need for multi-residue methods has supported the development and use of instrumental techniques. 

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