Shimadzu LCMS-8040 for analysis of pesticides in food samples

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Pesticides and their metabolites are of great concern to society as they are harmful to human health, pollute natural resources and disturb the equilibrium of the ecosystem. Consequently, stricter food safety regulations are being enforced around the world. Triple quadrupole LCMS systems can deliver high sensitivity and identification of the compounds of concern.

The combination of trace level quantitation and confidence in analyte identity means LCMSMS can meet the demands of the stricter food safety regulations being enforced around the world which, in turn, are placing pesticide analysis laboratories under increasing pressure to expand the list of targeted pesticides, detect analytes at lower levels and reduce analysis turnaround times.

In a study, a method was developed for the quantitation of 210 commonly analysed pesticides in food samples using the Nexera UHPLC and LCMS-8040. Limits of detection (LOD) for 90% of compounds were less than 0.001 mg kg-1 (1 ppb) and all compounds were less than 0.01 mg kg-1 (10 ppb) for both the quantifying and qualifying transitions using only a 2 μL injection. Repeatability at the 0.01 mg kg-1 reporting level was typically less than 5% RSD for compounds and correlation coefficients were typically greater than 0.997 in a variety of studied food extracts. Consequently, the LCMS-8040 is suited for routine monitoring of pesticides below the 0.01 mg kg-1 default level set by EU and Japanese legislation.