The fate of spirotetramat and dissipation metabolites in Apiaceae and Brassicaceae leaf-root and soil system under greenhouse conditions estimated by modified QuEChERS/LC–MS/MS

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the dissipation of spirotetramat and its four metabolites (B-enol, B-keto, B-mono and B-glu) in different parts of vegetables belong to the minor crops ( Appiacea and Brassicaceae ) and soil from cultivation. The challenge of this study was to apply an optimized clean up step in QuEChERS to obtain one universal sorbent for different complex matrices like leaves with high levels of pigments, roots containing acids, sugars, polyphenolls and pigments and soil with organic ingredients. Eight commercial (Florisil, neutral alumina, GCB, PSA, C18, diatomaceous earth, VERDE and ChloroFiltr) and one organic (Chitosan) sorbents were tested. A modified clean up step in QuEChERS methodology was used for analysis. The dissipation of spirotetramat and its metabolites was described according to a first-order (FO) kinetics equation with R 2 between 0.9055 and 0.9838. The results showed that the time after 50% (DT 50 ) of the substance degraded was different for soil, roots and leaves, and amounted to 0.2 day, 2.8–2.9 days and 2.1–2.4 days, respectively. The terminal residues of spiroteramat (expressed as the sum of spirotetramat, B-enol, B-glu, B-keto and B-mono) were much lower than the MRLs.