Fast pesticide multiresidue analysis in American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) by gas chromatography with electron capture detection.

A fast pesticide multiresidue analysis method using gas chromatography coupled with electron capture detector was investigated for the simultaneous determination of 15 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.). Samples were extracted with acetic acid-water-acetonitrile (1:5:94, v/v) and cleaned up by the Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged and Safe multiresidue method (QuEChERS). The linearity for 15 OCPs, in the working standard solutions of seven concentration levels between 1 and 100 ng/ml, varied from 0.9990 to 0.9999. Recoveries at concentrations between 0.1 and 2 μg/g ranged from 81.4 to 95.2%, with precision, which was expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD), at values lower than 8.0%. The proposed method was applied to the determination of pesticide levels from 60 samples, taken from six different areas. Among a total of 60 samples, 15.0% (9 samples) contained at least one of the 15 pesticides. The 15 OCPs were benzene hexachloride (BHC, including α-BHC, β-BHC, γ-BHC, δ-BHC), hexachlorobenzene, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide, aldrin, p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDD, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDT, mirex, endrin and dieldrin. This study indicates that the proposed method is useful for analyzing OCPs in American ginseng.