DETERMINATION OF PESTICIDE MULTIRESIDUES IN HONEY PRODUCED IN THE TRIÂNGULO MINEIRO REGION OF BRAZIL BY UHPLC-MS/MS

Excessive use of pesticides can lead to the accumulation of residues in different parts of plants, endangering various species and contaminating foods. Honey can be used as an indicator of agricultural contamination and pre-mature bee mortality by pesticides. However, to quantify pesticide residues in honey, high sensitivity analytical methodologies are required. In this work, a new method was proposed for the determination of seven pesticides, widely used in Triângulo Mineiro, in honey samples based on QuEChERS method and quantification by UHPLC-MS/MS. The method was optimized and validated according to the protocol recommended by the European Community. The method presented LOQ in the range of 0.6-4.0 µg kg-1, lower than the MRLs established for the pesticides studied. Also, the methodology showed high accuracy, with recoveries ranging from 89-107%, and good accuracy, RSD