Multi-Class Pesticide Quantitation with a Comprehensive Workflow

The routine quantitation of pesticide residues in food products is one of the most important and demanding applications in food safety. Despite the recent technological advancements in LC-MS, it is still challenging to obtain excellent chromatographic peak shapes, adequate sensitivity, and accurate quantitation of more than 500 pesticides from different chemical classes within a single, multi-class method.

This presentation describes the development and implementation of a comprehensive multi-class pesticides method based on LC-MS/MS using a generic QuEChERS sample preparation. The method was validated in wine and olive oil to demonstrate applicability to several matrices. The method detection limits obtained were compliant with EU SANTE/11813/2017 guidelines.

Key learning objectives

Discuss critical challenges in quantitation of pesticides in food laboratories using triple-quadrupole MS instrumentation
Learn how to maintain peak shape, performance, robustness, and reproducibility
Learn about a robust, routine workflow for pesticide residues analysis that can increase laboratory productivity

Who should attend

Researchers and analysts in need of fast and cost-effective solutions for the analysis of pesticide residues in food
Food testing labs
Regulatory agencies

About the presenters

Alessandro Cavaglioni, Laboratory Manager, ISVEA s.r.l., Poggibonsi, Siena, Italy

Alessandro Cavaglioni has a BS in Chemistry from the University of Siena. After brief experience at Emory University during PhD studies, he started in 1998 as laboratory manager at ISVEA, a new commercial analytical laboratory. As laboratory manager at ISVEA, he gained strong experience with food and beverages controls, mainly focusing on wine through a number of analytical techniques: LC–MS, GC–MS, ICP-MS, IC–MS. He started working on pesticide analysis in 2008 with LC-MS/MS. As lab manger, he is responsible for the full workflow evaluation of methods development and participates in several collaborative projects with public and private members.

Debora D’Addona, LSMS Application Specialist for the Sales Support Team, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Milan, Italy

Debora has a BS in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technology and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Florence. Following post-doctoral positions at the ICMU Bin Dijon and Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, she worked in academia to develop new drugs for cancer. She joined Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2012 as an HPLC specialist for biopharma and then moved to GC–GCMS as an application specialist. In the past year, she was involved in training and method development for customers, mainly in food and environmental laboratories. In 2016 she joined the group of LSMS South as Sales support specialist for the new TSQ family. She was involved locally in all the development process and testing of the new Pesticides Explorer solution.