Development of a Targeted Quantitative LC-MS/MS Method for 431 Positive and Negative Ion Pesticides in a Single Analysis

Pesticides are chemicals used to eliminate or control a variety of agricultural pests that can damage crops and livestock and reduce farm productivity. The most commonly applied pesticides are insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and fungicides. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) information on US pesticide usage from 2007 estimated that over 2.4 billion kilogram of pesticides were used worldwide. Agricultural use is by far the biggest pesticide consumer. This application note demonstrates a rapid, targeted quantitative UHPLC-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of 431 pesticides in samples of celery, tomato, garlic and bean in both positive and negative ion mode.