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Development of QuEChERS coupled with UHPLC–MS/MS for simultaneous determination of eight neonicotinoid pesticides in breast milk

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Abstract

A speedy and hypersensitive method was built to detect eight neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics) in breast milk by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS). The breast milk was extracted with a mixture of acetonitrile and water and purified with primary secondary amine (PSA) and C18. The recovery of the method ranged from 74.3 to 105.9% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 10%, and the limit of detection ranged from 0.05 to 0.18 ng/mL. Among 32 samples obtained from women 1 month postpartum, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid were the most frequently detected neonics. Moreover, thiacloprid and imidaclothiz were not detected in any samples. The concentrations of neonics in breast milk ranged from 1.90 to 149.95 ng/mL. Considering the toxic effects on mammals and even humans, infants who are exposed to neonics through ingestion of breast milk should receive extensive attention in future studies.

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Funding

 This study was supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LR21B070001) and Zhejiang Provincial University Student Science and Technology Innovation Activity Plan (2021R403061).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310032, People’s Republic of China

    Zeteng Ying, Lili Fu, Sijia Gu, Yan Wang, Xunjie Mo, Hangbiao Jin & Quan Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Key Laboratory for Pesticide Residue Detection of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Quality and Standard for Agro-Products, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310021, People’s Republic of China

    Tao Tang

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  1. Zeteng Ying
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  2. Lili Fu
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  4. Yan Wang
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Contributions

Zeteng Ying: investigation, data curation, writing-original draft. Lili Fu: investigation, data curation. Sijia Gu: investigation, data curation. Yan Wang: data curation. Xunjie Mo: investigation. Tao Tang: conceptualization, writing-review and editing. Hangbiao Jin: material preparation, writing-review and editing. Quan Zhang: conceptualization, methodology, writing-review and editing, supervision. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Quan Zhang.

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Ying, Z., Fu, L., Gu, S. et al. Development of QuEChERS coupled with UHPLC–MS/MS for simultaneous determination of eight neonicotinoid pesticides in breast milk. Environ Monit Assess 195, 597 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11185-x

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