Analysis of pesticide multi-residues in leafy vegetables by ultrasonic solvent extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Ultrasonic solvent extraction (USE) of pesticide multi-residues including monocrotophos, dimethoate, imidacloprid, carbendazim, carbaryl and simazine from leafy vegetables is presented. The extraction procedure was optimized with regard to the solvent type and amount, sonication time and number of extraction steps. The extract did not need clean-up before injected into liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) which was employed together with electron microscope to verify the effect of USE method. The proposed procedure allows the extraction of six pesticide residues in a single step with 40 ml of ethyl acetate for 35 min sonication, providing recovery over 83% and LOQ less than 1.4 μg/kg. The optimized USE method is a simple, low cost and an effective preparation method for determination of pesticide multi-residues at trace levels in leafy vegetables in comparison with homogenized extraction method.