Simultaneous determination and dietary intake risk assessment of 60 herbicide residues in aquatic products.

A sensitive and rugged analytical method was first established to simultaneously determine 60 herbicides in aquatic products with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy (GC-MS/MS). After extraction with acetonitrile (MeCN), NaCl and anhydrous Na2SO4 were added, concentrated supernatants were directly passed through the Carb/NH2 solid phase extraction column. Then, the cartridge was rinsed with elution solution (MeCN/toluene, 3:1, v/v), followed by GC-MS/MS analysis with multiple reaction monitoring. An excellent linearity (1.0-100.0 µg/L) with R2 value of ≥0.9991 was obtained, and the limits of quantification were 0.018-3.852 µg/kg. Satisfactory recoveries (70.8 %-117.6 %) with RSDs below 11.0 % of herbicide residues were obtained at spiked levels of 0.010-0.050 mg/kg. Furthermore, herbicide residues in actual aquatic products were analyzed, and the acute/chronic risk assessment of dietary exposure was carried out. The wide use of herbicides for controlling weed and removing moss and harmful algae may obviously increase the risk of contamination of the aquaculture environment and fishery products. Therefore, considerable attention and more research are necessary to monitor residue levels for herbicides in aquatic products and ensure the quality of marine products and consumer safety.

Highly-selective complex matrices removal via a modified QuEChERS for determination of triazine herbicide residues and risk assessment in bivalves.

A modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERs) method for determining triazine herbicide residues in bivalves (Mussels, Scallops, Cockles) was developed. The use of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as a selective purification material during dispersive-solid phase extraction (d-SPE) increased the removal rate of pigments interference. With 4% acidic acetonitrile as the organic modifier, the modified QuEChERs method achieved good extraction rate of herbicide residues. The satisfactory recoveries (80%-118%) and RSDs (1.0%-11.6%) of herbicide residues were obtained at three spiked levels. The limits of quantification of herbicide residues ranged from 0.10 µg/kg to 1.59 µg/kg. Further, the herbicide residues in bivalves collected in the eastern coasts of China was analyzed. The developed QuEChERs procedure coupled with GC-MS/MS was successfully applied to the herbicide residues detection in bivalves, and due to the extensive use of herbicides and the large consumption of bivalves in globally, the ongoing risk evaluation is needed.