INTERACTION BETWEEN MICROPLASTICS AND CHLORPYRIFOS IN COOKED BEANS: A STUDY OF BIOACCESSIBILITY

Food safety is a topic of great relevance, constantly challenged by the presence of emerging and persistent contaminants in the food chain. Among these, organophosphate pesticides stand out, such as chlorpyrifos, widely used in agriculture, and microplastics (PMs), polymeric particles that contaminate the environment and food. This study aimed to evaluate the bioaccessibility of the pesticide chlorpyrifos through simulated in vitro digestion of beans, as well as to investigate the possible interaction of this contaminant. Five different samples were analyzed: one analytical control (White: raw beans fortified with chlorpyrifos at 0.5 mg kg⁻¹) and four trials with cooked beans (F0: cooked beans without contaminants; FA: cooked beans fortified with chlorpyrifos at 0.5 mg kg⁻¹; FM: microplastic-fortified cooked beans at 0.1 mg kg⁻¹; FAM: baked beans fortified with both contaminants at the same concentrations). After cooking, the samples were submitted to the INFOGEST in vitro digestion protocol, simulating physicochemical and enzymatic conditions of the oral, gastric and intestinal phases. The identification and quantification of chlorpyrifos were performed by Liquid Chromatography coupled to a Thermo Scientific Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (LC-MS/MS), with an Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI) interface and an analytical method validated specifically for the bean matrix. The analysis with the Branco sample confirmed the efficiency of the methodology, presenting a chromatographic peak characteristic of chlorpyrifos, with a retention time of 11.99 minutes