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Environmental and food applications of LC–tandem mass spectrometry in pesticide‐residue analysis: An overview
Author(s) -
Picó Yolanda,
Blasco Cristina,
Font Guillermina
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
mass spectrometry reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1098-2787
pISSN - 0277-7037
DOI - 10.1002/mas.10071
Subject(s) - chemistry , tandem mass spectrometry , mass spectrometry , tandem , pesticide residue , quadrupole ion trap , triple quadrupole mass spectrometer , chromatography , pesticide , ion trap , fragmentation (computing) , liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , selected reaction monitoring , environmental chemistry , aerospace engineering , agronomy , computer science , engineering , biology , operating system
I. Introduction 45 II. Pesticide Structures and Properties 46 III. Extraction and Isolation Methods from Environmental and Food Samples 47 IV. LC/MS/MS Analysis of Pesticides 53A. Interfacing Systems 53B. Instrumental Aspects 57C. Optimization of Chromatographic Mass Spectrometric Conditions 57 V. Tandem MS Methods 59A. Triple Quadrupole 59B. Quadrupole Ion Trap 66C. Hybrid Quadrupole TOF (Q‐TOF) 71 VI. Performance Characteristics of LC‐Tandem MS for Pesticides 72 VII. Applications 75 VIII. Conclusions 80 References 81An overview is given on pesticide‐residue determination in environmental and food samples by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). Pesticides comprise a large number of substances that belong to many completely different chemical groups, the only common characteristic is that they are effective against pests. They still constitute a challenge in MS because there is no collective pathway for fragmentation. A brief introduction to the theory of tandem MS permits a discussion of which parameters influence the ionization efficiency when the ions are subjected to different actions. Emphasis is placed on the different tandem MS instruments: triple and ion‐trap quadrupoles, and hybrid quadrupole time‐of‐flight (Q‐TOF), including advantages and drawbacks, typical detection limits, and ion signals at low concentrations. The instrumental setup, as well as LC and mass spectrometric experimental conditions, must be carefully selected to increase the performance of the analytical system. The capacity of each instrument to provide useful data for the identification of pesticides, and the possibility to obtain structural information for the identification of target and non‐target compounds, are discussed. Finally, sample preparation techniques and examples of applications are debated to reveal the potential of the current state‐of‐the‐art technology, and to further promote the usefulness of tandem MS. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 23:45–85, 2004