Ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on the solidification of a floating organic droplet followed by gas chromatography for the determination of eight pyrethroid pesticides in tea samples

• A UA-DLLME-SFO method was developed for the pretreatment of pyrethroid pesticides in tea samples.
• Higher recoveries of pyrethroid pesticides ranged from 92.1% to 99.6% were reached.
• Higher enrichment factors for the eight pyrethroid pesticides were acquired in the range of 292–883.

A novel ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on solidification of floating organic droplet method (UA-DLLME-SFO) combined with gas chromatography (GC) was developed for the determination of eight pyrethroid pesticides in tea for the first time. After ultrasound and centrifugation, 1-dodecanol and ethanol was used as the extraction and dispersive solvent, respectively. A series of parameters, including extraction solvent and volume, dispersive solvent and volume, extraction time, pH, and ultrasonic time influencing the microextraction efficiency were systematically investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the enrichment factors (EFs) were from 292 to 883 for the eight analytes. The linear ranges for the analytes were from 5 to 100 μg/kg. The method recoveries ranged from 92.1% to 99.6%, with the corresponding RSDs less than 6.0%. The developed method was considered to be simple, fast, and precise to satisfy the requirements of the residual analysis of pyrethroid pesticides.