Liquid chromatography methodologies for the determination of steroid hormones in aquatic environmental systems

Steroid hormones are a diverse group of natural and synthetic compounds. Their wide use in human and veterinary medicine results in their continual introduction into the environment. In recent years, environmental concern over steroids that act as endocrine disruptors has increased because of their adverse effects on organisms or their progeny. Moreover, as these compounds are not totally removed from sewage in wastewater treatment plants, they can reach the aquatic environment and persist due to their physicochemical characteristics.For this reason, a major trend in analytical chemistry is the development of rapid and efficient procedures for the extraction, determination and quantification of steroid hormones in environmental samples. Over the past few decades, the significant expansion of liquid chromatography technology utilizing mass spectrometry detection has led to applications with increased selectivity and sensitivity. Optimized extraction and microextraction techniques combined to these liquid chromatography techniques have lowered detection and quantification limits to the ng L⁻¹–μg L⁻¹ range, which is the concentration of steroid hormones in liquid, solid and biota samples.In this paper, the state-of-the-art techniques for the analysis of steroid hormones focused mainly in based liquid chromatography methods in liquid and aquatic solid and biota samples are reviewed. Handling, storage, extraction and detection methodologies are reviewed and compared for all families of steroid hormones.     

高效液相色谱-串联质谱法检测生物样品中6种雌激素

建立了雌酮、雌二醇、雌三醇、己烯雌酚、己烷雌酚和炔雌醇6种雌激素在生物体中的HPLC-MS/MS分析方法.采用加速溶剂萃取、固相萃取技术进行提取、富集及净化,有效降低了基质的干扰.以甲醇-0.1％氨水溶液为流动相,以C18色谱柱进行分离,质谱采用电喷雾负离子扫描模式,6种雌激素的回收率为88％～104％,相对标准偏差在1.3％～8.3％之间.雌酮、雌二醇、雌三醇在生物体中的方法检出限0.35ng/g;己烯雌酚、己烷雌酚、17α-乙炔基雌二醇在生物体中的方法检出限为0.13ng/g.方法适用于生物体内雌激素的分析和检测.     

Development of HPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of environmental phenols in human urine

We present a sensitive method for simultaneous determination of bisphenol A (BPA), benzophenone-3 (BP-3), 4-tert-octylphenol (t-OP), ortho-phenylphenol (OPP), four parabens (methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl parabens) and five chlorophenols (2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP), 2,4,5-trichlorophenol (2,4,5-triclorophenol), 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP), and triclosan (TCS)), in human urine by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) mass spectrometry (MS). Samples were processed using enzymatic deconjugation of glucuronides followed by solid phase extraction (SPE) on a C18 cartridge and the eluate was concentrated. Analytes were separated by reversed-phase HPLC and then detected by atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI) MS and quantified by isotope dilution method. We describe details for optimisation of each step of the procedure. The sample treatment steps are straightforward and not labour-intensive and, therefore, permit a high sample throughput with excellent prospects for automation. This method shows low inter-day variation, and detection limits for most of the compounds are below 1 ng/mL in 1 mL of urine. The method accuracy was also verified by the analysis of proficiency testing urine samples.     

Spectrophotometric determination of nitrite in environmental waters using column preconcentration on biphenyl

Column preconcentration methods have been established for the spectrophotometric determination of trace nitrite with sulfanilic acid (SA) orp-aminoacetophenone (AAP) as the diazotizable aromatic amine andN, N-dimethylaniline (DMA) or 1-aminonaphthalene (AN) as the coupling agent, using differention-pairs co-precipitated with biphenyl. Nitrite ion reacts with SA in the pH range 2.0–3.0 and AAP in the pH range 1.7–3.0 in HCl medium to form water-soluble colourless diazonium cations. These cations are subsequently coupled with DMA in the pH range 3.7–6.1 for the SA-DMA system and AN in the pH range 1.7–2.3 for the AAP-AN system to be retained on microcrystalline biphenyl packed in a column. The solid mass is dissolved out from the column with 5 ml of DMF and the absorbance is measured by a spectrophotometer at 420 nm for the SA-DMA system and at 517 nm for the AAP-AN system. The calibration was linear over the concentration ranges 0.3–6.0 g of nitrite in 5 ml of DMF solution (i.e., 0.02–0.40 g/ml in the sample solution) for the SA-DMA system and 0.5–7.0 g of nitrite in 5 ml of DMF solution (i.e., 0.03–0.47 g/ml in the sample solution) for the AAP-AN system. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity were respectively 2.63 × 10⁴lmol^–1cm^–1 and 1.75 × 10^–3 g cm^–2 for SA-DMA and 3.28 × 10⁴lmol^–1 cm^–1 and 1.40 × 10^–3 g cm^–2 for AAP-AN. The concentration factors were 4 and 16 for SA-DMA and AAP-AN, respectively. The detection limits were 0.0138 and 0.0175 g/ml NO₂ ^– for SA-DMA and AAP-AN, respectively. Seven replicate determinations of a solution containing 3.5 g of nitrite gave mean absorbances of 0.410 and 0.500 with relative standard deviations of 0.51 and 0.55% for SA-DMA and AAP-AN, respectively. Interference from various foreign ions has been studied and the methods have been applied to the determination of nitrite in environmental samples.     

Porous monolithic materials for extraction and preconcentration of pollutants from environmental waters

This review presents the strengths and weaknesses of monolithic materials for the enrichment of inorganic and organic contaminants in environmental waters. We describe the most common materials (silica, organic, and hybrid organic silica) and strategies for constructing monoliths in different moulds and shapes (tubes, cartridges, stir bars, fibers) published since 2015. The functionalization of the pore surfaces enhances their affinity towards different classes of pollutants. For instance, the incorporation of chelating groups enables the enrichment of potentially toxic metals and semi-metals in aquatic environments before the analyses by spectrometric techniques. Monolithic materials for extracting emerging pollutants, diverse classes of herbicides, and fungicides were proposed recently. Incorporation of carbon-based and magnetic nanoparticles, metal-organic frameworks, and ionic liquids enhanced their adsorption capacity by either increasing the surface area or providing multiple retention mechanisms. Monoliths with molecular recognition properties for highly selective extractions have been synthesized, including boronic functionalities and molecularly imprinted cavities. The final part describes the hybrid organic silica monoliths, emphasizing metal ions and speciation analysis hyphenated with ICP-MS. In the outlook section, we point to some fields we believe monoliths will benefit, such as their 3-D technologies preparation. We also pointed their potential applicability in portable chromatographic systems, restricted access materials, and enhanced use to preconcentrate viruses from aquatic environments.     

固相萃取/液相色谱-串联质谱法检测医院废水中21种抗生素药物残留

应用固相萃取及高效液相色谱-串联质谱技术,建立了医院废水中12种磺胺、4种喹诺酮、3种四环素以及罗红霉素和甲氧苄氨嘧啶等21种抗生素的定性定量方法。水样经HLB小柱萃取富集,使用10%甲醇溶液净化,经甲醇洗脱定容后,以高效液相色谱-串联质谱多反应监测离子模式(MRM)对目标物进行分析。在优化实验条件下,21种抗生素的线性范围为1.0～500μg/L,相关系数r2>0.99,方法检出限为0.005～0.022μg/L。在加标量为0.05μg/L和1.0μg/L时,空白加标回收率分别为71%～105%和76%～111%,RSD均小于15%。以医院废水为基质,21种抗生素的加标回收率为71%～135%,RSD小于25%。该方法简捷、快速、准确,能够实现医院废水中多种抗生素药物残留的同时分析。     

Flame atomic absorption spectrometry determination of trace amount of gold after separation and preconcentration onto ion-exchange polyethylenimine coated on Al2O3

The object of this work is to develop a simple and selective method for efficient extraction of Au(III) ions in aqueous solution using a new solid-phase extraction sorbent. Polyethylenimine (PEI) ion-exchange polymer was coated on alumina in the presence of NaNO₃. The method is based on sorption of Au³⁺ ions on 50 mg PEI/Al₂O₃. A solution of 0.5 M thiourea, then 1.0 M HCl effectively eluted the gold ion and then aspirated into flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS). The influence of flow rate of sample solution and eluent, the pH effect, eluent type and sorption capacity was investigated. The effects of various diverse ions for preconcentration and separation of the gold ion were investigated. Relative standard deviation of 4.0 μg mL⁻¹ of gold was 1.46% (n = 10). The detection limit was 26.2 ng L⁻¹ in original solution. The method has been applied successfully for the recovery of trace amount of Au(III) ions from water samples.     

高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定动物源食品中同化激素的研究进展

综述了动物源食品样品的提取与净化方法(包括固相萃取、凝胶渗透色谱和基质固相分散)和高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定其中同化激素的研究进展(引用文献39篇)。     

Screening of fluoroquinolones in environmental waters using disk-based solid-phase extraction combined to microplate fluorimetric determination and LC-MS/MS

Fluoroquinolones are in the order of the day concerning environmental contamination through anthropogenic activities, resulting in increased risk for antibiotic resistance dissemination. In this context, accessible, low-cost analytical methods are required for implementation of comprehensive surveillance and screening schemes. In this work, we propose a down-scaled disk-based solid-phase extraction system from which the eluate can be first screened by miniaturized fluorimetric reading, followed by individual determination of target fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and enrofloxacin) by liquid chromatography combined to tandem mass spectrometry. The fluorimetric measurement is based on the intrinsic fluorescence of fluoroquinolones. Disk-based retention was performed after sample acidification (pH 4.0) by mixed-mode cation exchange using polystyrene divinylbenzene sulphonated sorbent. Sample loading was precisely controlled in a dedicated flow system operating at 4.0 mL min^?1. Different eluent compositions were tested, with elution performed by 1.00 mL of methanol-ammonium hydroxide (98:2, v/v), with subsequent reading of eluate in both detectors. Quantification was attained for 2–25 µg L^?1 range, with LOD values at 1 µg L^?1. The proposed approach was successfully applied to estuarine waters from the Douro River, with comparable results to a conventional SPE-LC-MS/MS procedure.     

Enrichment of steroid hormones in water with porous and hydrophobic polymer‐based SPE followed by HPLC–UV determination

There have been great concerns about the persistence of steroid hormones in surface water. Since the concentrations of these compounds in water samples are usually at a trace level, the efficient enrichment of steroid hormones is vital for further analysis. In this work, a porous and hydrophobic polymer was synthesized and characterized. The composition of solvent used as porogen in the synthetic process was shown to have an effect on the morphology of the polymer, which was successfully used as an SPE sorbent for simultaneously enriching steroid hormones in surface water samples. The recoveries of the steroid hormones on the custom‐made polymer ranged from 93.4 to 106.2%, whereas those on commercialized ENVI‐18, LC‐18, and Oasis HLB ranged from 54.8 to 104.9, 66 to 93.6, and 77.2 to 106%, respectively. Five types of steroid hormones were simultaneously measured using HPLC–UV after they were enriched by the custom‐made sorbent. Based on these findings, the SPE–HPLC method was developed. The LODs of this method for estriol, estradiol, estrone, androstenedione, progesterone were 0.07, 0.43, 0.61, 0.27, and 0.42 μg/L, respectively, while precision and reproducibility RSDs were <6.40 and 7.49%, respectively.     

高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定生鲜乳中三聚氰胺的含量

采用高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定生鲜乳中三聚氰胺残留量。样品经乙腈溶液超声提取,过Waters Oasis MCX固相萃取小柱净化,50℃氮气吹干,再用1.0mL乙腈溶解后供高效液相色谱-串联质谱分析。以Waters Hilic色谱柱(100 mm×2.1 mm,3μm)为固定相,用乙腈-5mmol·L-1乙酸铵(95+5)溶液洗脱,采用电喷雾正离子模式多反应监测,内标法定量。三聚氰胺的质量浓度在10.0μg·L-1以内呈线性,检出限(3S/N)为0.5μg·kg-1。取空白样品在3个标准加入水平下进行回收和精密度试验,回收率在99.8%~103%之间,测定值的相对标准偏差(n=10)在1.9%~3.2%之间。     

Simultaneous determination of inorganic arsenic,antimony, selenium and tellurium by ICP-MS in environmental waters using SPE preconcentration on modified silica

This paper deals with a simplified multi-element profiling of inorganic arsenic, antimony, selenium and tellurium in the form of ⁷⁵As, ⁸²Se, ¹²¹Sb and ¹²⁵Te by ICP-MS for amounts less than 10?µg?L^?1. Internal standards such as ⁷²Ge and ²⁰⁹Bi were successfully used for the suppression of both influence of macro elements Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ or Al³⁺, and interference of limited concentrations of heavy metal ions. Modified silica sorbents Separon? SGX C18, C8, CN, NH₂, RPS and Phenyl were tested for the preconcentration of As, Sb, Se and Te (0.25–5?µg?L^?1) in the form of ion associates with cationic surfactants from 50–250?mL sample volume. 1-etoxycarbonyl-pentadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (Septonex®, 0.005?mol?L^?1) was suitable for this purpose in the presence of 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol, 2-pyrrolidinecarbodithioate and 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid. The quantitative retention occurred at pH 7?±?0.2 and the mixture of acetone with ethanol in ratio 1?:?1 in the presence of 0.1?mol?L^?1 HCl was used for the quantitative elution. Organic solvents and the excess of acid were removed by evaporation prior to the determination by ICP-MS. The determination of the above trace metalloids in various kinds of water with enrichment factor till 50 times on silica Separon? SGX C18 and the above reagents were compared with the standard addition method.     

Novel analytical methods for the determination of steroid hormones in edible matrices

This paper reviews recently published multi-residue chromatographic methods for the determination of steroid hormones in edible matrices. After a brief introduction on steroid hormones and their use in animal fattening, the most relevant EU legislation regarding the residue control of these substances is presented. An overview of multi-residue analytical methods, covering sample extraction and purification as well as chromatographic separation and different detection methods, being in use for the determination of steroid hormones (estrogens, gestagens and androgens), is provided to illustrate common trends and method variability. Emphasis was laid on edible matrices and more specifically on meat, liver, kidney, fat and milk. Additionally, the possibilities of novel analytical approaches are discussed. The review also covers specific attention on the determination of natural steroids. Finally, the analytical possibilities for phytosterols, naturally occurring steroid analogues of vegetable origin and a specific group of steroid hormones with a hemi-endogenous status are highlighted.     

高效液相色谱-串联质谱法测定纺织品中16种全氟烷酸类化合物

采用高效液相色谱-串联质谱(LC-MS/MS)技术建立了纺织品中16种全氟烷酸类化合物的测定方法。样品以甲醇为溶剂,超声提取,C18(100 mm×2.1 mm,2.7μm)色谱柱分离,流动相为水和甲醇,梯度洗脱,多反应监测(MRM)模式进行分析检测。16种全氟烷酸类化合物在1~1 000 ng/m L浓度范围内与对应峰面积呈线性关系。方法定量下限(S/N=10)为0.21~1.53μg/m2。加标回收率为84.8%~107.4%,相对标准偏差(RSD)不大于7.2%。该方法快速简便、准确可靠,适用于纺织品中全氟烷酸类化合物的分析检测。     

Evaluation of a new carbon/zirconia‐based sorbent for the cleanup of food extracts in multiclass analysis of pesticides and environmental contaminants

A novel carbon/zirconia‐based material, Supel^TM QuE Verde, was evaluated in a filter‐vial dispersive solid‐phase extraction cleanup of pork, salmon, kale, and avocado extracts for the residual analysis of 65 pesticides and 52 environmental contaminants (flame retardants, polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) using low‐pressure gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. An amount of 180 mg sorbent per 0.6 mL extract in filter‐vial dispersive solid‐phase extraction cleanup was found the optimum in terms of achieving satisfactory removal of co‐extractives and recoveries of analytes, especially for structurally planar compounds. For analytes partially retained by Verde, normalization to an internal standard resulted in 62–107% recoveries. Addition of Verde to primary secondary amine and C₁₈ in cleanup resulted in 38% more removal of gas‐chromatography‐amenable co‐extractives in avocado, 30% in kale, 39% in salmon, and 50% in pork. The removal efficiency of co‐extracted chlorophyll was 93% for kale and 64% for avocado based on ultraviolet‐visible absorbance. The developed method was validated at three spiking levels (10, 25, and 100 ng/g), and 70–120% recoveries with ≤20% relative standard deviation were achieved for 96 (83%) out of 117 analytes in pork, 79 (69%) in salmon, 71 (62%) in kale, and 75 (65%) in avocado.     

Electrospun polymer nanofibers as a solid-phase extraction sorbent for the determination of trace pollutants in environmental water

This paper describes the novel preparation of three kinds of nanofibers [poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid), poly(styrene-co-p-styrene sulfonate), polystyrene] investigated as solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbents to extract six compounds (nitrobenzene, 2-naphthol, benzene, n-butyl p-hydroxybenzoate, naphthalene, p-dichlorobenzene) in environmental water by high-performance liquid chromatography. Parameters affecting extraction efficiency were investigated in detail to explore the extraction mechanism of the nanofibers. Under optimized conditions, six compounds followed an excellent linear relationship in the range 10–5,000 ng mL⁻¹ with coefficients of determination (r ²) greater than 0.99. The repeatability (expressed as relative standard deviations) was from 3.0 to 7.0%, corresponding to 2.0 mL of water samples at 25 and 500 ng mL⁻¹ spiked levels for the six compounds. The limits of detection varied from 0.01 to 0.15 ng mL⁻¹ (signal-to-noise ratio of3). A comparison of the SPE using nanofibers as sorbents and the most commonly used octadecylsilica SPE cartridges was carried out in terms of absolute recovery, sensitivity, and reproducibility for the compounds investigated. Finally, the method was applied to four real water samples. The results highlighted the importance of functional groups, and the polarity of nanofibers in controlling sorption of target compounds, and clearly showed that the new method could be a viable and environmentally friendly technique for analyzing pollutants in environmental samples.     

Multiple monolithic fiber solid‐phase microextraction based on a polymeric ionic liquid with high‐performance liquid chromatography for the determination of steroid sex hormones in water and urine

The development of a simple and sensitive analytical approach that combines multiple monolithic fiber solid‐phase microextraction with liquid desorption followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection is proposed for the determination of trace levels of seven steroid sex hormones (estriol, 17β‐estradiol, testosterone, ethinylestradiol, estrone, progesterone and mestranol) in water and urine matrices. To extract the target analytes effectively, multiple monolithic fiber solid‐phase microextraction based on a polymeric ionic liquid was used to concentrate hormones. Several key extraction parameters including desorption solvent, extraction and desorption time, pH value and ionic strength in sample matrix were investigated in detail. Under the optimal experimental conditions, the limits of detection were found to be in the range of 0.027–0.12 μg/L. The linear range was 0.10–200 μg/L for 17β‐estradiol, 0.25–200 μg/L estriol, ethinylestradiol and estrone, and 0.50–200 μg/L for the other hormones. Satisfactory linearities were achieved for analytes with the correlation coefficients above 0.99. Acceptable method reproducibility was achieved by evaluating the repeatability and intermediate precision with relative standard deviations of both less than 8%. The enrichment factors ranged from 54‐ to 74‐fold. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of steroid sex hormones in environmental water samples and human urines with spiking recoveries ranged from 75.6 to 116%.     

Cryogenic grinding pre-treatment improves extraction efficiency of fluoroquinolones for HPLC-MS/MS determination in animal tissue

An efficiency extraction of fluoroquinolones in chicken muscle was achieved by pulverizing it in a freezer mill before treatment with NaOH (10mM)/MeCN (1:1). The improvement of cryogenic grinding in the extraction was demonstrated for the same piece (whole leg) of four chickens treated with enrofloxacin in equal doses. A confirmatory method based on high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was used to analyze the extracts. The chromatographic separation was achieved in 5min with a Synergi Fusion-RP 80A (50 x 2mm, 4μm) column filled with a hybrid polymer. The HPLC was coupled with a detector based in a quadrupole–linear ion trap Q-TRAP that allows a confirmatory detection according to the European legislation. The specificity of the method was assessed by testing a number of representative blank muscle samples (n = 10) to verify the absence of potential interfering compounds. The limits of detection and quantitation were 2 and 5ng g^-1 of quinolones in muscle samples, respectively. The chromatographic method was demonstrated to be linear for the range studied (5–500ng g^-1) with the P value for lack-of-fit in the ANOVA table greater or equal to 0.10 (calibration coefficient 0.9998 and 0.9996 for ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, respectively). The mean intra-day relative standard deviation (RSD) (n = 6, c = 50ng g^-1) was 6%; inter-day assay gave a RSD of 12%. The extraction and clean-up were carried out in one step with very satisfactory recovery data (between 65 and 101%).     

竹炭为高效吸附剂的固相萃取分析环境水样中的痕量三氯生

建立了一种由竹炭作为固相萃取高效吸附剂富集环境水样中痕量三氯生的新方法. 研究并优化了几个影响富集效率的参数. 在优化条件下, 三氯生的检测限为0.08 μg/L, 在1～100 μg/L 范围内有良好的线性关系, 相对标准偏差为2.9% (n=7). 方法可应用于实际废水样品的分析.     

固相萃取地表水中痕量联苯胺及HPLC-MS测定

采用固相萃取及高效液相色谱-串联质谱技术,建立了地表水中痕量联苯胺的测定方法.水样经HLB固相萃取柱富集,二氯甲烷与丙酮(1:1,v/v)洗脱,氮吹后转为甲醇溶剂,以液相色谱串联质谱选择离子监测(SRM)模式定性、定量分析.在本实验条件下,加标回收率在72.0%～94.0%之间,相对标准偏差8.1%～9.8%(n=7)...