Determination of paraquat in vegetables using HPLC-MS-MS

A simple, sensitive, reliable and economical method was developed for the determination of paraquat (a widely used herbicide) in four edible vegetables (cabbage, lettuce, spinach and Chinese cabbage) using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-MS). The samples were extracted with water under sonication and cleaned up by weak cation exchange solid-phase extraction. Chromatographic separation of paraquat was achieved on a hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography column (2.1 × 100 mm, 3 µm) with a gradient program using 10 mM ammonium acetate in 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile as mobile phase. The low salt concentration used in the eluting buffer ensured extended LC-MS analysis of paraquat in different matrices without the necessity of frequent source cleaning. The validity of the developed method was evaluated by spiking paraquat in four edible vegetables at 50 and 500 ng g(-1). Recovery ranged from 43.6 to 73.5%. The limit of detection is 0.94 ng g(-1). With the developed method, the kinetic of paraquat entering plant tissue was also evaluated.