title: Comparison of ultra-performance liquid chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of priority pesticides in baby foods by tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry.
abstract: Determination of 16 priority pesticides and transformation products specified in the EU Baby Food Directive 2003/13/EC has been compared using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Prior to analysis, co-extractives were removed from acetonitrile extracts using dispersive solid-phase extraction (SPE) with primary secondary amine (50 mg). Extracts spiked with pesticides at 1 microg kg(-1) yielded average recoveries in the range 85-119%, with relative standard deviations less than 17%. The HPLC-MS/MS and UPLC-MS/MS multi-residue methods developed are simple, rapid and suitable for the quantification and confirmation of the 16 priority pesticides in fruit-, potato- and cereal-based baby food at 1 microg kg(-1). The major advantages of UPLC, using 1.7 microm particles, over HPLC are the speed of analysis, the narrower peaks (giving increased signal-to-noise ratio) and improved confirmation for the targeted pesticides in the analyses of baby foods.
authors.affiliation: Central Science Laboratory, Sand Hutton, York YO41 1LZ, UK.
authors.forename: Cristiana C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Leandro
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Fussell
authors.forename: Brendan J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Keely
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010573:Pesticide Residues