Residue detection and correlation analysis of multiple neonicotinoid insecticides and their metabolites in edible herbs

In this work, a green analytical method was established for the simultaneous extraction and detection of 20 analytes–10 neonicotinoid insecticides and their 10 major toxic metabolites in edible herbs. QuEChERS and LC-MS/MS were used to analyze the 20 analytes in five edible herbs. The residues of the 20 neonicotinoid insecticides and their metabolites in 109 herbal samples were detected, of which 90 samples were positive, and the residue of total neonicotinoid insecticides ranged from 0.26 to 139.28 μg/kg. Acetamiprid (77.06 %, ≤85.95 μg/kg), imidacloprid (67.89 %, ≤32.49 μg/kg) and their metabolites (N-desmethyl-acetamiprid (44.04 %, ≤18.42 μg/kg) and desnitro imidacloprid (48.62 %, ≤16.55 μg/kg) were most frequently detected in herbs. Significant positive correlations were found between imidacloprid/acetamiprid and their metabolites in Lycii fructus and Citri reticulatae pericarpium. Therefore, more attention may be given to the neonicotinoid insecticide residues in edible herbs in the future.