New validated analytical workflow facilitates sensitive and reliable determination of anionic pesticides in food

A new, validated ion chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (IC-MS/MS) analytical workflow is designed to enable food testing laboratories to overcome the challenges associated with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis of polar anionic pesticides in complex sample matrices.

The Thermo Scientific Anionic Pesticides Explorer is a high-throughput, sample-to-result, IC-MS/MS-based analytical workflow, comprised of the Thermo Scientific Dionex Integrion High Performance Ion Chromatography system coupled with the Thermo Scientific TSQ Altis Triple Quadrupole MS, for the multi-residue detection, identification and quantification of anionic pesticides at low concentrations in complex food matrices. Thermo Fisher Scientific is showcasing the new analytical workflow during the 9th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA), being held November 5–8, at Booth #8 at the Clarion Congress Hotel, Prague, Czech Republic.

"Anionic polar pesticides, such as glyphosate, are widely used in agriculture, but the difficulties associated with their analysis using LC-MS/MS-based methods have contributed to the infrequent monitoring of these pesticides in the global food chain – a situation that is concerning for consumers and regulatory authorities alike," said Khalil Divan, senior director, food and beverage, chromatography and mass spectrometry, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "The Anionic Pesticides Explorer is an out-of-the-box, easy-to-implement, analytical workflow that allows food safety laboratories to increase monitoring and throughput for quantitation and identification of multiple anionic pesticides in a single analysis."

Katie Banaszewski, method development supervisor, NOW Foods, said, "As a manufacturer of supplements and nutritional products derived from natural sources, it is essential to ensure incoming raw materials are safe, and pesticide testing is a vital step for us confirming this. The application of the Anionic Pesticides Explorer has enabled us to enhance the productivity of our testing workflows through the reliable detection of multi-residue pesticides across a wide range of sample matrices, all within a single, sensitive analytical solution."

The Anionic Pesticides Explorer is designed to provide food testing laboratories with increased workflow productivity and simple methodology through access to a single multi-residue method for high-priority anionic polar pesticide and metabolites. This analyser offers a robust method, offering enhanced chromatographic retention, resolution and sensitivity with modified Quick Polar Pesticides Method (QuPPe) sample preparation protocol for a wide range of matrices. Another great feature is a fully documented, ready-to-run workflow supported by a system-suitability test and detailed guidance documents to enable optimum performance during routine operation according to EU SANTE method performance criteria.