Determination of neonicotinoid insecticides residues in eels using subcritical water extraction and ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

•A novel SWE technique for the determination of neonicotinoids in eels is presented.•Extraction parameters have been optimized along with the validation procedures.•The proposed method is accurate, sensitive, and environmental-friendly.•It was successfully applied for the analysis of neonicotinoids in real world samples.

A rapid, sensitive, and environmental-friendly multi-residue method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of seven neonicotinoid insecticides (dinotefuran, nitenpyram, thiamethoxam, imidacloprid, clothianidin, acetamiprid, and thiacloprid) residues in eel samples. Subcritical water extraction was investigated as a novel and alternative technology for the extraction of neonicotinoids from eel matrices and the results were compared with the conventional ultrasonic and shaking extraction. The target compounds were identified and quantitatively determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) operated in multiple reaction monitoring mode. Under the current optimized chromatographic conditions, each LC run was completed in 5 min. Average recoveries of the seven analytes from fortified samples ranged between 84.6% and 102.0%, with relative standard deviations (RSD) lower than 10.8%. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) for neonicotinoids were in the ranges of 0.12–0.36 μg kg−1 and 0.42–1.12 μg kg−1, respectively. The proposed method is fast, sensitive, easy to perform, water-based thus more environmentally acceptable, making it applicable for high-throughput monitoring of insecticides residues in aquatic products.

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