QuEChERS-Based Multiresidue Pesticide Analysis in Minor Livestock Products and Other Animal-Derived Foods: Performance Evaluation in Selected Matrices and a Market Survey in Korea

Abstract

Abstract

A common quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) procedure coupled with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) was evaluated and applied to survey pesticide residues in minor livestock products and other animal-derived foods marketed in Korea. Performance was assessed in lamb, duck meat, quail egg, mealworm, and edible frog for 150 LC–MS/MS and 75 GC–MS/MS target analytes, including metabolites and isomers. In each matrix, limits of quantitation (LOQs) were ≤0.01 mg/kg for at least 96% of target analytes on each platform. Most analytes met the linearity criterion, and most with LOQs at or below each fortification level met recovery and precision criteria; recurrent low recoveries were most evident for some LC–MS/MS analytes in lamb. Among 90 market samples from 13 food categories, four target analytes were quantified, each in a different sample. Under adult intake assumptions for the surveyed foods, including surrogate and default values, chronic exposure estimates for the four detected pesticides were below their acceptable daily intakes, and acute estimates for the two pesticides with established acute reference doses were below these values. This study provides performance data for the directly evaluated matrices and commodity-specific residue data for the surveyed foods.