Gas chromatography–triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry: a powerful tool for the (ultra)trace analysis of multiclass environmental contaminants in fish and fish feed

Abstract

A new method for rapid determination of 73 target organic environmental contaminants including 18 polychlorinated biphenyls, 16 organochlorinated pesticides, 14 brominated flame retardants and 25 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fish and fish feed using gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was developed and validated. GC-MS/MS in electron ionization mode was shown to be a powerful tool for the (ultra)trace analysis of multiclass environmental contaminants in complex matrices, providing measurements with high selectivity and sensitivity. Another positive aspect characterizing the newly developed method is a substantial simplification of the sample preparation, which was achieved by an ethyl acetate QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) based extraction followed by silica minicolumn clean-up. With use of this sample preparation approach the sample laboratory throughput was increased not only because six samples may be prepared in approximately 1 h, but also because all the above-mentioned groups of contaminants can be determined in a single GC-MS/MS run. Under the optimized conditions, the recoveries of all target analytes in both matrices were within the range from 70 to 120% and the repeatabilities were 20% or less. The method quantification limits were in the range from 0.005 to 1 μg kg(-1) and from 0.05 to 10 μg kg(-1) for fish muscle tissue and fish feed, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of halogenated persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fish and fish feed samples.

A multiresidue screen for the analysis of toxicants in bovine rumen contents

“…1; Table 1). Since the first published application of the QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) method for the analysis of pesticides in produce, this method has gained usefulness in pesticide analysis in feed, 2,[5][6][7]11 biological fluids, and tissue samples. 4,8,10,14 In the current study, a QuEChERS clean-up method followed by GC-MS analysis using a library search for unknowns has been used for the analysis of bovine rumen contents to screen for a variety of toxicants commonly encountered in veterinary toxicology laboratories.…”

Critical Assessment of Clean-Up Techniques Employed in Simultaneous Analysis of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Fatty Samples

“…However, there are some limitations in mass spectrometry due to matrix effects (ME), which can be particularly pronounced in complex matrices such as fish, where the analyte elutes together with other molecules, which without sufficient purification can lead to amplification or suppression of the analyte signal and can quantitatively alter the results of the analysis. For this reason, isotopically labeled internal standards are very often used to correct matrix effects [32][33][34].…”

Quantification of Cooking Method Effect on COP Content in Meat Types Using Triple Quadrupole GC-MS/MS

“…However, the determination of COPs using triple quadrupole gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GS-MS/MS) is still scarce. Most studies have found gas chromatography (GC) coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) operated in electron ionisation mode (EI) to be an effective tool for (ultra)trace analysis [27]. Triple quadrupole MS/MS helps to establish the relationships between ions in a mass spectrum and identify the ions formed when the other ions in the spectrum undergo fragmentation [28].…”