Multiclass pesticide residue analysis in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) using high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution (Orbitrap) mass spectrometry: A simultaneous screening and quantitative method

Public exposure to pesticides through tobacco has attracted serious attention. Here we report a simultaneous screening and quantitation method for the non-target multiresidue analysis of pesticides in different tobacco types. The method involved extraction of a homogenate (20 g, containing 2 g tobacco) in ethyl acetate (10 mL), cleanup of 2 mL extract by dispersive solid phase extraction with PSA (50 mg)+C₁₈ (50 mg)+GCB (25 mg)+MgSO₄ (100 mg), followed by reconstitution in 1 mL acetonitrile:water (3:7) and analysis using HPLC with Quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry. The high resolution accurate mass analysis was performed through sequential full-scan (resolution=35000) and variable data independent acquisition (resolution=17500) events. When the method was evaluated in a mixture of 181 pesticides, it effectively minimised matrix interferences and false negatives. The target compounds included 5 pairs of isomers and 27 pairs of isobars, which were distinguished based on chromatographic separation, mass resolving power and/or unique product ions. The screening detection limit (SDL) for 86.4% of the test pesticides was set at 5 ng/g, while the remainder had the SDLs at 10 ng/g (9.3%) and 40 ng/g (4.3%). Nearly, 75% of the compounds showed recoveries of 70-120% at 10 ng/g. The rest of the compounds showed satisfactory recoveries at 40 and 100 ng/g. In all cases, precision-RSDs were < 20%. The established method demonstrated a successful performance in four different types of tobacco matrices while aligning with the guidelines of SANTE and US-FDA. Owing to its efficiency, the method is recommended for screening and quantitation of multiclass pesticides in tobacco.