Chromatographic analysis methods
Acute and massive bee mortality - Mass spectrometry as investigation tool

In order to be as exhaustive as possible, an analysis strategy has been developed which aims to detect the possible presence of pesticides through a non-targeted chromatographic analysis using liquid chromatography coupled with a time-of-flight mass detector (LC-Q-Tof: Liquid Chromatography Quadrupole Time-of-flight), followed by confirmation and quantification through a targeted analysis using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS: Liquid Chromatography tandem Mass Spectrometry) for a list of 208 molecules potentially present in the environment. In this case, the use of liquid chromatography focuses research on polar molecules. At the same time, a similar approach is used for apolar molecules, with GC/MS analysis and confirmation in GC/MS/MS, in order to extend the search to a broad spectrum of chemical agents.

The aim is to provide a method...