The widespread use of pesticides induces heavy adverse effects on human health, especially for the pregnant women and the newborns. In this study, a screening method has been developed for the determination of multi-pesticides in maternal and umbilical cord sera. All pesticides in sera were collected using solid phase extraction (SPE), and analyzed by gas chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-QTOF MS). To set up the quality criteria, a database of 50 pesticides was created and the accurate masses of 3 up to 5 representative ions with their intensity ratios were included for each pesticide. In addition, a novel "identification points" (IPs) system relying on the accurate MS1 and MS2 spectra was used to interpret the data for each suspected pesticide. The methodology was then applied to a pair of maternal and umbilical cord sera. A total of six pesticide residues were screened out successfully. In conclusion, GC-QTOF MS combined with an accurate mass database seemed to be one of the most efficient tools for systematic pesticide analysis.
Fan RJ,Zhang F,Wang HY,et al. Reliable screening of pesticide residues in maternal and umbilical cord sera by gas chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry[J]. Sci. China-Chem.,2014,57(5):669-677.
