Determination of pyrethroid pesticides in tomato using ionic liquid-based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction

A sensitive determination method was developed for the analysis of pyrethroid pesticide residues in tomato samples using ionic liquid-based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction. A hydrophobic ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate) and acetonitrile were used as the extraction solvent and dispersive solvent, respectively. The following experimental parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were examined: types of extraction solvent and volume of extraction solvent, types of dispersive solvent and volume of dispersive solvent and pH and ion strength of the sample solution. Under the optimum conditions, the extraction recoveries ranged from 83.9 to 96.7%. Moreover, the enrichment factors for esbiothrin, fenpropathrin and cyhalothrin were 42, 48 and 45, respectively. The calibration curves were linear with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.9997 to 0.9999 at concentrations of 0.05-1.5 µg/kg. The relative standard deviation (n = 5) was 1.7-4.5%. The limits of detection for esbiothrin, fenpropathrin and cyhalothrin were 8.1, 9.9 and 14.3 µg/kg, respectively.