Concerns surrounding pesticide contamination are not limited to fruits and vegetables. According to Toxics Action Center, pesticides are used almost everywhere: not only in agricultural fields, but also in homes, parks, schools, buildings, forests, and roads. “It is difficult to find somewhere where  pesticides aren’t used—from the can of bug spray under the kitchen sink to the airplane crop dusting acres of farmland.” Animals used for food consumption are also prone to contaminant exposure. “Many chemical pesticides are fat-soluble and accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals,” Prevention.com explained. “Animal feed that contains animal products compounds the accumulation, which is directly passed to the human consumer.” In an effort to ensure adherence to various United States pesticides regulatory acts, as well as provide the world with trusted and safe food products, Tyson Foods, Inc. instituted a pesticide screening program to test all flocks of chickens pre-slaughter to verify that all incoming poultry is clear of pesticide residues. This laboratory program is registered with and monitored by the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service Accredited Laboratory Program (USDA-FSIS-ALP). The official methodology currently used to extract Chlorinated hydrocarbon (CHC) is listed under USDA-FSIS Determinative Method CHC2. Traditionally under this method, glass chromatography columns are manually prepared using glass wool, alumina, and sodium sulfate which are then suspended in petroleum ether. In this study, we demonstrate a simple, rapid extraction for CHCs in poultry fat using Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) and fast GC/ECD analysis with a Phenomenex Zebron™ ZB-MultiResidue™-1 GC column.

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Related resources: • Pesticides Guide • Pesticide Residues in Lettuce Using QuEChERS by LC/MS/MS and GC/MS • Pesticide Residues in Spinach Using QuEChERS by LC/MS/MS and GC/MS • Comprehensive LC/MS/MS Analysis of Over 180 Pesticides