Simultaneous determination of organophosphorus, organochlorine, pyrethriod and carbamate pesticides in Radix astragali by microwave-assisted extraction/dispersive-solid phase extraction coupled with GC–MS

A simple, rapid and reliable method was proposed for the simultaneous determination of 27 pesticides (organophosphorus, organochlorine, pyrethroid and carbamate pesticides) in Radix astragali. The pesticides were extracted by acetonitrile and the experimental variables, such as temperature, extraction time and volume of acetonitrile, were optimized through orthogonal array experimental design. Cleanup of extracts was performed with dispersive-solid phase extraction using primary secondary amine (PSA) as the sorbent. The determination of pesticides in the final extracts was carried out by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry in selected ion monitoring mode (GC–MS, SIM). The linearity of the calibration curves is good in matrix-matched standard, and yields the coefficients of determination (R2)≥0.99 for approximately 96% of the target analytes. Under optimized conditions, the average recoveries (six replicates) for most pesticides (spiked at 0.02, 0.1 and 0.2 mg kg−1) range from 70% to 120%, and RSDs are less than 17.2%.