Development of high-purity pyrethrins certified reference material

Certified reference materials (CRMs) are essential for reliable pesticide residue analyses. For this study, we hypothesised that stable and high-purity pyrethrins CRM containing six target compounds could be developed through the chromatographic purification of pyrethrum and argon-purged packaging. The purities of total and individual pyrethrins were determined using mass balance and external calibration methods. The CRM properties were evaluated using an ISO-guided approach. The candidate CRM exhibited excellent homogeneity, stability, and metrological traceability. Certified values of purity and expanded uncertainty were as follows: total pyrethrins (98.6 ± 0.9 %), pyrethrin 2 (44.6 ± 0.9 %), pyrethrin 1 (27.5 ± 0.5 %), jasmolin 2 (9.1 ± 0.8 %), jasmolin 1 (7.0 ± 0.4 %), cinerin 2 (5.1 ± 0.4 %), and cinerin 1 (5.4 ± 0.3 %). These findings demonstrate the successful development of a stable and high-purity pyrethrins CRM that ensures the reliability and quality of pyrethrin residue analysis.