Development and validation of simultaneous quantitative analytical method for emerging contaminants in animal-derived foods using ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

Illegal and overuse of veterinary drugs, such as antibiotics, tranquilizers, and environmental pollution caused by the widespread use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) products are two concerned topics. They have caused food safety issues and seriously threaten human health. It is urgent to increase the monitoring of residues in foods. Employing enhanced matrix removal lipid (EMR-Lipid) as solid-phase extraction coupled with ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, a simple, rapid, highly accurate, quantitative method was developed for the determination of antibiotics, PFAS and drug in animal derived foods. The extraction solvent, cleanup method and other conditions that affect the accuracy and sensitivity of the method were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the analytes showed good linearity within their respective concentration ranges, with linear correlation coefficients (R²) ranging from 0.9911 to 0.9999. The method detection limits (S/N = 3) were 0.025 to 5.0 µg/kg, and the limits of quantification were 0.075 to 15.0 µg/kg. At concentration levels of 1, 2, and 10 times the limit of quantification, the average spiked recoveries of the 103 analytes in different matrices were 60.0 % to 119 %, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 0.042 % to 19.8 %. This developed method was successfully applied to analyze 103 emerging contaminants at trace levels in the real food sample.