The present study investigates the occurrence of pymetrozine residues in cauliflower samples obtained from six cauliflower-producing areas of China during fixed time periods in 2017 and estimates the dietary risk of pymetrozine in cauliflower. A liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated to detect pymetrozine in cauliflower. The samples were extracted using 20 mL of acetonitrile and purified with dispersive solid-phase extraction using C18 as sorbent. The limit of quantification of pymetrozine was 0.008 mg/kg in cauliflower. The recoveries of the analyte were 82.04-95.18% with RSD <8.45%. The calibration curves for pymetrozine showed good linearities in the concentration range 0.004-2.0 mg/L with determination coefficients (R2 ) >0.999. Pymetrozine dissipated rapidly in cauliflower with a half-life of <4 days. The terminal residues of pymetrozine were <0.008-0.0881 mg/kg in cauliflower at 7, 10 and 14 days after spraying from six sites. The routine washing process removed about half amount of the pymetrozine in cauliflower; the reduction ratios were 51.0-52.8%. The dietary risk assessment indicated that pymetrozine did not exhibit obvious dietary health risks in cauliflower when good agricultural practices were implemented.
Keywords: cauliflower; degradation; pymetrozine; residues; risk assessment; washing process.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.