Detection and determination of some pyrethroid pesticides in fruit and vegetable samples using Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

The measurement of harmful substances that may enter the food has particular importance. Pesticides are one of the most important compounds that are wieldy used in agricultural activities. Despite the positive effects of the application of pesticides in agriculture, many pesticides are harmful to the environment and are known or suspected to be toxic to humans. Pyrethroid pesticides are common pesticides used in agricultural and personal care products and due to their high efficiency in controlling different pests they widely used. In the present work, an efficient and reliable microextraction method based on temperature-induced homogeneous liquid-liquid microextraction developed for the extraction of Delthamethrine, Biphenthrine, Permethrin, Cyhalothrin and Cypermethrine pyrethroid pesticides from potato, tomato, lettuce and onion and then its analyses performed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method. The optimized method validated with recoveries ranging from 56 to 83%. The limits of detection were in the range of 4.3-9.4 ng mL-1, indicating high repeatability of the proposed method in the extraction and analysis of pyrethroid pesticides. Other advantages of this method include low cost and simplicity, low organic solvents consumption, and short analysis time.