Multi-residue analysis of 126 pesticides in chicken muscle by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

•A multi-residue analysis method for 126 pesticides in chicken muscle was developed.•A modified QuEChERS method was used for sample preparation and purification.•A new adsorbent (EMR-Lipid) selectively removed lipids from the sample matrix.•UHPLC–QToF–MS was used for sensitive and reliable pesticide identification.•The method was successfully validated and showed negligible matrix effects. Ensuring food safety requires effective methods for the simultaneous analysis of pesticide residues in animal-origin foods. A sensitive and reliable method for the multi-residue analysis of 126 pesticides in chicken muscle was developed using a modified QuEChERS technique and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A new enhanced matrix removal-lipid material was used as the QuEChERS dispersive purification adsorbent. Method validation revealed satisfactory linearities with correlation coefficients higher than 0.994 for all pesticides. All limits of quantification were below 10 µg/kg, except in the cases of oxadiazon, clomazone, and lactofen. The matrix effects were nearly negligible, ranging from 73.09% to 125.22%. The recoveries at three spiked levels (50, 100, and 200 μg/kg) were 71.38–120.43% and the intra-day and inter-day precisions were lower than 10%, indicating the good accuracy and precision of the established method.