Analysis Of Pesticides In Baby Foods Using GCMS

Contamination of food products with pesticides is a growing concern because of recognized adverse health effects, increasing world-wide usage of pesticides, and increasing imports of raw foodstuffs from foreign sources. The concern is particularly acute for baby foods because of the high vulnerability of babies to health effects from synthetic chemicals such as pesticides.

Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) has been used extensively to identify and quantify trace-level pesticides in food matrices; the most significant challenges have been matrix interference and achievement of meaningful health-based detection limits for the compounds of interest. The QuEChERS (Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged and Safe) sample preparation method1 has helped to overcome some of the problems of matrix interference, and commercialization of QuEChERS kits has promoted widespread screening of foodstuffs for trace pesticides. But matrix interferences still present a significant challenge for analysis of trace-level pesticides in foods, even after QuEChERS extraction and cleanup.