fe3o4 nanoparticles modified with chitosan functionalized ionic liquid as an adsorbent for the analysis of twenty-five pesticides in vegetables by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract: this study assessed the presence of 25 pesticide residues in vegetables sold in tehran's supermarkets and farmer's markets and determined the risk to human health. the estimated daily intake (edi) and the acceptable daily intake (adi) were used to calculate the potential health risk assessment of pesticides. fe3o4 nanoparticles modified with chitosan functionalized ionic liquid (fe3o4@cs)-il nps) was used as dispersive micro-solid phase extraction (d-μ-spe) materials for simultaneous extraction of pesticide residues. to monitor these residues reliably, a selective and sensitive, multi-residue system has been developed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (uplc–ms/ms). fe3o4@cs-il nps was characterized by sem, tem, xrd, ftir, vsm and tga. various condition parameters, such as sample ph, sorbent dosage, extraction time, solvent, volume of the solvent, and desorption time were optimized using central composite design. under the optimum experimental conditions, limits of detection for 25 pesticides were obtained within the range of 0.031–4.052 ng.ml-1. recoveries ranged from 89.1 to 101.7%. the relative standard deviation values were calculated in the range of 3.6 %–5.9 % (intra-day) and 6.4 %–7.8 % (inter-day). the developed method was validated using matrices consisting of five vegetables (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, pepper, and cabbage) spiked with 25 pesticides at different concentrations. the proposed approach was used to assess 94 samples gathered between 2020 and 2021. in vegetables, eleven pesticide residues were measured. six pesticides exceeded the european union's maximum residue limits. however, the sum of the edi did not exceed adi. as a result of the findings of this investigation, the identified pesticide cannot be regarded a severe public health concern when consumed in vegetables. to increase food safety and improve public health in tehran, ongoing monitoring programs and stronger controls for pesticide residues in vegetables are required.