Rapid simultaneous determination of organophosphorus pesticides in human serum and urine by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Background/Aim. Analysis of organophosphosphorus compounds and their metabolites in a biological material includes the use of numerous methods, covering both preparation of samples for analysis and their identification that is considered to be very complex. Low concentrations monitoring requires implementation of highly sensitive analytical techniques. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an original and sensitive method for the detection and quantitation of organophosphorus pesticides (dimethoate, diazinon, malathion and malaoxon) in human biological matrices (serum, urine). Methods. This method was based on a solid-phase extraction procedure, a chromatographic separation using an ACQUITY UPLC ? HSST3 column and mass spectrometric detection in the positve ion mode. Mobile phase: was consited of Solvent A (5 mM ammonium formate pH 3.0) and Solvent B (0.1% acetic formate in methanol), in a linear gradient (constant flow-rate 0.3 mL/min). Results. The standard curve was linear in the range of 0.05-5.00 mg/L for malathion and malaoxon, 0.10-5.00 mg/L for dimethoate and 0.05-2.50 mg/L for diazinon. The correlation coefficient was r ? 0.99. Extraction recoveries were satisfactory and ranged between 90-99%. The limits of detection (LOD) was between 0.007- 0.07 mg/L and the limits of quantitation (LOQ) ranged between 0.022-0.085 mg/L. Intra- and interassay precision and accuracy were satisfactory for all of the pesticides analyzed. Conclusion. The method of liquid chromatography - mass spectrometry is simple, accurate, and useful for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides in both clinical and forensic toxicology.