Residues of neonicotinoids in soil, water and people's hair: A case study from three agricultural regions of the Philippines.

Synthetic pesticides such as neonicotinoids are commonly used to treat crops in tropical regions, where data on environmental and human contamination are patchy and make it difficult to assess to what extent pesticides may harm human health, especially in less developed countries. To assess the degree of environmental and human contamination with neonicotinoids we collected soil, water and people's hair in three agricultural regions of the Philippines and analysed them by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS-MS). Five neonicotinoids, namely acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam were targeted.