Suchergebnisse

Veterinary medicines are widely administered to farm animals since they keep animals healthy at overcrowded conditions. Nevertheless the continuous administration of medicines to farm animals can frequently lead to the presence of residues of veterinary drugs in consumption products. Amprolium is a quaternary ammonium compound used in the treatment of coccidiosis. In this paper a method based on capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) to analyze residues of amprolium in eggs was developed and validated for the first time. Parameters such as electrolyte type, concentration and pH were optimized. In order to improve sensitivity, field amplified sample injection (FASI) was used for in-line preconcentration after a quick and simple sample treatment based on SPE (Envi-Carb). During method validation studies using egg samples a matrix interference was found at the migration time of amprolium. This compound was identified as thiamine and confirmed by MSn experiments using capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-MS) with an ion-trap mass analyzer. CZE conditions were re-optimized to separate thiamine from amprolium allowing the quantification of amprolium in eggs at concentrations down to 75 µg Kg-1, which are far below the MRL legislated values.

Conditions were established for the separation and analysis of Bisphenol A (BPA), Bisphenol F (BPF), and their diglycidyl ethers, by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC). Good resolution was obtained for all compounds, although in order to achieve the separation of ortho-ortho, ortho-para, and para-para isomers of Bisphenol F diglycidyl ether (BFDGE), BFDGE¿2H2O and BFDGE¿2HCl, it was necessary to use a 25 µm I.D. fused-silica capillary. To increase sensitivity, a field amplified sample injection (FASI)-MECC method was developed using 10 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution as injection matrix and a 75 µm I.D. fused-silica capillary. Instrumental quality parameters such as limits of detection (0.999), and run-to-run and day-to-day precisions (relative standard deviations (RSD) values lower than 12.5%) were determined. Finally, the suitability of the FASI-MECC method for the analysis of BPA, BPF and their diglycidyl ethers in canned soft-drinks was evaluated. Quantitation was performed by matrix-matched calibration using a plastic-bottled isotonic drink as matrix. The results showed that FASI-MECC is an economic method for the screening and quantitation of these kinds of compounds in soft-drink beverages, with no loss of reproducibility, and effective at concentrations lower than the specific migration level (SML) values established by the European Union.

Analytical strategies for screening, quantitation and confirmation of a group of 100 pesticides in fruit and vegetable samples by LC-MS and LC-MS/MS were developed. The pesticides studied belong to different chemical families of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. A selection of some degradation products was also included. Chromatographic separation was performed using a Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C8 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm and 5 µm particle size), and gradient elution with acetonitrile-water (both with 0.1% formic acid) as mobile phase. LC-MS/MS using highly-selective selected reaction monitoring (H-SRM) acquisition mode monitoring two transitions for each compound showed to be the most sensitive methodology. Quantitation was carried out using matrix-matched standard calibration and good linearity of response was demonstrated (r > 0.998). Limits of detection (by acquiring two transitions and with the ion-ratio requirements) ranged between 0.01 and 20 µg/kg were obtained. So, in general, the sensitivity achieved meets the maximum residue levels (MRLs) established by the European Union regulation for food monitoring programs. Pesticide confirmation was carried out following European Union guidelines. In order to prevent false-positives, further confirmatory strategies were proposed. LC-MS in highly-selective selected ion monitoring (H-SIM) mode with accurate mass measurement was used to obtain an orthogonal criterion (exact mass) for confirmation. Accurate mass measurements were always bellow 0.9 mDa for almost all pesticides studied (similar to those described with TOF instruments). A user reversed energy ramp (RER) product ion scan spectra library was generated by means of a data dependent analysis for routine library searching of pesticides. The combination of LC-MS/MS in H-SRM mode and the generation of the RER product ion scan spectra and library search were then used to achieve further confirmation on pesticide analysis. The LC-MS and LC-MS/MS strategies developed were successfully applied for the analysis and confirmation of pesticides in different types of fruit and vegetables samples, and examples of the screening, quantitation and confirmation of pesticides in these samples are shown in this work.