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Inexpensive, effective novel activated carbon fibers for sample cleanup: application to multipesticide residue analysis in food commodities using a QuEChERS method

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Abstract

Phenolic resin based activated carbon fibers (ACFs) were applied for the first time as a reversed-dispersive solid-phase extraction (r-DSPE) sorbent. A modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method was applied to determine 26 pesticides (organophosphates, organochlorines, synthetic pyrethroids, and herbicides) in different complex matrices, including cauliflower, cucumber, banana, apple, wheat, and black gram. Different physicochemical characterization techniques were used to investigate the engineering and structural properties of the r-DSPE sorbent. All the chromatographic analyses were performed with a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector. The recoveries of all 26 pesticides were acceptable (70–120%), with relative standard deviations of less than 15%. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification were 1.13–5.48 ng/g and 3.42–16.60 ng/g, respectively. In the original QuEChERS method, primary secondary amine is extensively used as the r-DSPE sorbent in the cleanup process, but it is eightfold more expensive than the ACFs used in this study. Therefore, the modified QuEChERS method using ACFs during the cleanup process is more efficient, cheaper, and more robust to determine pesticides from different types of matrices, including vegetables, grains, and fruits, and ACFs could be used as a cost-effective alternative to primary secondary amine.

Sample clean-up using PSA and ACF as r-DSPE sorbent in QuEChERS method

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the support of the Department of Science and Technology (New Delhi, India) in the form of research grants (DST/INSPIRE/04/2015/001869 and GAP-306) for this research work. The authors are also obliged to CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR) for providing necessary infrastructural facilities. The authors appreciatively acknowledge Gun Ei Chemical Industry Co. Ltd (Japan) for supplying the activated carbon fibers. The CSIR-IITR communication number for this article is 3459.

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  1. Shiv Singh and Anshuman Srivastava contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanomaterial Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Vishvigyan Bhawan, 31 Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226001, India

    Shiv Singh

  2. Pesticide Toxicology Laboratory, Regulatory Toxicology and Nanomaterial Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Vishvigyan Bhawan, 31 Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226001, India

    Anshuman Srivastava & Sheelendra Pratap Singh

  3. Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, Regulatory Toxicology and Nanomaterial Toxicology Group, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Vishvigyan Bhawan, 31 Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226001, India

    Sheelendra Pratap Singh

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  1. Shiv Singh
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Singh, S., Srivastava, A. & Singh, S.P. Inexpensive, effective novel activated carbon fibers for sample cleanup: application to multipesticide residue analysis in food commodities using a QuEChERS method. Anal Bioanal Chem 410, 2241–2251 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-0894-0

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