A novel method for pesticide analysis in refined sugar samples using a gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC–MS/MS) and simple solvent extraction method

A sensitive method for the quantification of 11 pesticides in sugar samples to the μg kg−1 level has been developed. These pesticides are often used in an agricultural context. A simple solvent extraction followed by selective analysis using a gas chromatography–mass spectrometric method was used. This method was accurate (⩾99%) as it possesses limits of detection in the 0.1-μg kg−1 range, and the coefficients of variations are less than 15% at the low μg kg−1 end of the method’s linear range. The percent recovery of all the pesticides at the lowest levels of detection ranges from 82% to 104%. This method was used for the quantification of pesticides in sugar samples collected from different factory outlets from different parts of India. In this study, 27 refined sugar samples were analysed in which one sample showed a detectable level of the chlorpyrifos pesticide. This study showed that Indian sugar is free from the commonly-used pesticides at the low μg kg−1 levels.