Investigation of some neonicotinoids in honey by LC-MS/MS

Honey is a natural substance that is susceptible to contamination by environmental pollutants. The presence of contaminants in honey is an indicator of environmental pollution. Furthermore, it may pose risks to consumer health. This research aimed to optimise a method for the detection of residual quantities of the pesticides acetamiprid (ACE), clothianidin (CLO), imidacloprid (IMI), thiamethoxam (TMX) and thiacloprid (THI) in honey, and subsequently to apply this optimised method to an investigation into the prevalence of neonicotinoidal contamination. The QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, robust and safe) method, in conjunction with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), was employed for the determination of five neonicotinoid in honey. The method was optimized and validated in accordance with European Commission guidelines (2002/657/EC). The method demonstrated a linear correlation with R² values exceeding 0.99 for all investigated compounds. Mean recoveries ranged between 70% and 110% (99% on average), and relative standard deviations (RSDs) were generally below 20%. The method's CCα (decision limit) and CCβ (detection capability) both ranged from 5 to 20 ng/g and 5-21 ng/g, respectively. Following method validation, the concentrations of IMI, ACE, TMX, CLO, and THI in all honey samples (flower, pine, and chestnut honey) available for retail in Ankara, Türkiye were determined to be ˂LOD based on the analytical results. It was concluded that the proposed method is usable and advantageous because it is effective, reliable, sensitive, and reproducible and can be used for the simultaneous analysis of more than one analyte in a short time using a few reagents.