Determination of 40 currently used pesticides in airborne particulate matter (PM 10) by microwave-assisted extraction and gas chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

A confirmatory and sensitive procedure has been developed for the determination of 40 currently used pesticides (CUPs) in airborne particulate matter (PM 10) at trace level. The proposed method includes extraction of PM 10-bound pesticides by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) followed by a gel permeation chromatography (GPC) clean-up and determination by GC–MS/MS. The injection mode and the main parameters in MS/MS were optimized. The matrix effect was also evaluated. Recoveries ranged from 70 to 120% except for pyrimethanil and pirimicarb. The limit of quantification (LOQ) ranged from 1.32 to 39.47 pg m−3, when air volumes of 760 m3 were collected. The method was applied to 38 samples collected from a rural station belonging to the atmospheric monitoring network of the Regional Valencia Government (Spain) during April–June 2010. Eighteen out of 40 pesticides investigated were found in at least one sample (bifenthrin, chlorothalonil, chlorpyriphos-e, chlorpyriphos-m, clorpropham, diazinon, dicofol, diphenylamine, fipronil, fludioxonil, folpet, malathion, metalaxyl, penconazole, quinoxyfen, triadimefon, trifluralin, and vinclozoline), with concentrations ranging from 1.32 to 625.80 pg m−3.