Simultaneous Screening of 733 Pesticide Residues in Fruits and Vegetables by a GC/LC-Q-TOFMS Combination Technique

Abstract In this paper, we report the construction of two accurate mass databases and the development of a combination detection method that simultaneously screens for 733 pesticide and chemical contaminant multi-residues via high-throughput liquid chromatography (LC)– and gas chromatography (GC)–quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (Q-TOFMS). This work demonstrates that electronic mass spectral standards may replace chemical-source standard materials as references through one sample preparation and the combination of GC/LC–Q-TOFMS screening. This cutting-edge technique has also replaced multi-residue determination using targeted detection with non-targeted screening. The pesticide residue types, sensitivity, recovery, and reproducibility of this combination technique are evaluated in eight fruit and vegetable matrices. This technique shows three advantages: ① In comparison with the discovery capability of a single technique, the combination technique shows an improvement of 51.1% (GC–Q-TOFMS) and 39.6% (LC–Q-TOFMS), respectively; ② the combination technique can satisfy a screening limit lower than 10 μg·kg−1 and meet the requirements of “uniform standards,” although some of the pesticide residues could be optimized to further improve screening sensitivity; ③ over 488 pesticides with recoveries between 60%–120% and relative standard deviation (RSD)