Determination of neonicotinoid insecticides residues in bovine tissues by pressurized solvent extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A rapid, sensitive, and environmental-friendly method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of seven neonicotinoid insecticides residues in bovine muscle and liver. The sample preparation procedure was based on a high automated pressurized solvent extraction (PSE) combined with solid-phase extraction (SPE) clean-up. The target compounds were identified and quantitatively determined by liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode. Average recoveries of the seven analytes from fortified samples ranged between 83.2% and 101.9%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 10.8%. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) for neonicotinoids were in the ranges of 0.8-1.5 μg kg−1 and 2.5-5.0 μg kg−1, respectively. This validated method was successively applied to the determination of neonicotinoid insecticides in real samples from markets.