Trifluralin in aquatic products: QuEChERS and Gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for trace amount detection

In the present study, an analytical method was proposed for detecting trifluralin in aquatic products at trace concentrations. The method employed QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) and gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) as the sample preparation and measurement, respectively. The effect of the aqueous phase volume used in the QuEChERS was demonstrated, and the ratio of 10:10 (mL) between water and acetonitrile phase was used for 5 g of sample. Besides, dSPE using C18 and primary-secondary amine (PSA) was applied to remove the potential interferences from the food matrices, indicating no remarkable analyte loss. The linear range was built up from 0.50 mu g L-1 to 3.0 mu g L-1 (R-2 = 0.9993). Other criteria, i.e., repeatability (RSDr = 0.86-1.96 %), reproducibility (RSDR = 1.09-2.01 %), and recovery (over 90 %), were in accordance with Appendix F of AOAC (2016) for method performance. Although no trifluralin was detected for the commercial samples (fish, shrimp, and breaded shrimp), the spiked samples performed favorable recoveries and precision.