Evaluation of direct analysis in real time for the determination of highly polar pesticides in lettuce and celery using modified Quick Polar Pesticides Extraction method

•DART was evaluated for the determination of highly polar pesticides.•Experimental parameters affecting DART-HRMS detection were optimized.•QuPPe method was modified to improve selectivity in vegetable samples.•Quantification of 7 compounds was carried out in lettuce and celery.•A whole calibration set was completed in less than four minutes.

Direct analysis in real time (DART) was evaluated for the determination of a number of highly polar pesticides using the Quick Polar Pesticides Extraction (QuPPe) method. DART was hyphenated to high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) in order to get the required selectivity that allows the determination of these compounds in complex samples such as lettuce and celery. Experimental parameters such as desorption temperature, scanning speed, and distances between the DART ion source and MS inlet were optimized. Two different mass analyzers (Orbitrap and QTOF) and two accessories for sample introduction (Dip-it® tips and QuickStrip™ sample cards) were evaluated. An extra clean-up step using primary-secondary amine (PSA) was included in the QuPPe method to improve sensitivity. The main limitation found was in-source fragmentation, nevertheless QuPPe-DART-HRMS proved to be a fast and reliable tool with quantitative capabilities for at least seven compounds: amitrole, cyromazine, propamocarb, melamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine and 1,2,4-triazole. The limits of detection ranged from 20 to 60 μg/kg. Recoveries for fortified samples ranged from 71 to 115%, with relative standard deviations <18%.