National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 19254:2026.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee EH/4, Soil quality.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 August 2026.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 190, Soil quality, Subcommittee SC 3, Chemical and physical characterization.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Pesticides are primarily used to protect plants and enhance crop yields. The global average consumption of pesticides sprayed on cultivated land is approximately 2,69 kg/10 000 m² This value reflects an increase compared to the past few decades. This upward trend in pesticide consumption contributes to continuous exposure to pesticides in environmental matrices such as soil, water and air. The presence of pesticide residues in soils can degrade soil quality and have adverse effects on soil biodiversity, impacting non-target biota, as well as other ecosystem through the off-site transport of contaminated soil particles and soil pore water into air or water. Pesticide residues in soil can potentially move downward to groundwater through leaching process or run off to surface water resulting in water contamination.

Information at the national level regarding the presence of pesticides residue in soil has been limited due to low number of soil samples and monitoring projects and it primarily focuses on the highly toxic pesticides used in the past. However, some recent studies have reported the detection of various types of current fungicides, herbicides and insecticides in arable soil, playground, urban park areas, ground water and surface water.

With respect to toxicologically characterized pesticide residues, environmental agencies throughout the world have established specific values that are used in risk assessment. Developing a standard analytical method targeting currently used pesticides in soil is crucial for conducting risk assessment at pesticide contaminated sites. A method available in analysing multi-class pesticide residues in soil simultaneously would be very effective due to the variety of pesticide used. In this context, the QuEChERS (quick easy cheap effective rugged safe) method can be an alternative method to analyse a number of pesticide residues simultaneously in soil with relatively simple pretreatment applicable to both GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS.

The QuEChERS methods has already been incorporated into EN 15662.

This document can support the creation of an analytical framework for various pesticide residues in soil. It can be the starting point for future work including additional pesticide residues that are not target analytes in this document.

1 Scope

This document provides a method for the simultaneous analysis of multi-class pesticide residues in soil using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis following extraction with acetonitrile and buffering salts mixture, and cleanup via dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE). This document is applicable to the 30 target analytes listed in Table 1. This document can be applicable to other pesticide residues if their validity is confirmed.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Principle

5 Interferences

5.1 Interferences by sample processing

5.2 Interferences by sample matrix and ionization competition

6 Reagents

6.1 General

6.2 Chemicals

6.3 Standard substances and solutions

7 Apparatus

7.1 Liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS)

7.2 Gas chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometer (GC-MS/MS)

7.3 Laboratory apparatus

8 Procedure

8.1 Sample storage and pretreatment

8.2 Extraction

8.3 Clean up (d-SPE, dispersive-solid phase extraction)

8.4 Preparing the test solution for GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS analysis

9 Calibration

10 Calculation of results

11 Quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC)

12 Test report

Bibliography