Multiresidue method for the gas chromatographic determination of pesticides in honey after solid-phase extraction cleanup

A new multiresidue method is described for the determination of pesticides in honey. The method involves dissolution of the honey in a methanol-water mixture, followed by solid-phase extraction cleanup and gas chromatographic determination. Twenty-six pesticides used on flowering field crops, on flowering fruit and vegetables, or as acaricides to control Varroa jacobsoni in beehives are determined by the method. Recoveries from honey, spiked at 0.02-1.6 mg/kg, ranged from 85 to 127% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2-16%, except for the RSD of 27% for captan at 0.05 mg/kg.     

Study of semi-automated solid-phase extraction for the determination of acaricide residues in honey by liquid chromatography

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method followed by a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedure is reported for the assay of a wide polarity range acaricide residues in honey. After selection of suitable chromatographic and detection conditions, most steps of the SPE procedure that may affect to the recovery were investigated. Honey sample was buffered at pH 6 and then applied to the preconditioned C₁₈ sorbent. A washing step was performed with 1 ml of a mixture of tetrahydrofuran (THF)–phosphate buffer (10:90, v/v) and finally, the analytes were eluted with 1 ml of THF. The extract was evaporated to dryness, reconstituted in mobile phase and chromatographed on a reversed-phase C₁₈ column with diode array detection. The recoveries of the more polar acaricides were higher than 80% and 60–70% for the more apolar ones. Limits of detection obtained ranged from 1 to 200 ng/g.     

An improved method for acetaldehyde determination in blood by high-performance liquid chromatography and solid-phase extraction

This study reports on an improved method for acetaldehyde (ACH) determination in blood by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). In the case of HPLC analysis, ACH is generally converted to derivatives for ultraviolet detection (for example 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine [DNPH] derivative). Nevertheless, elevation of the background during protein precipitation, hydrazone synthesis, or both frequently results in a serious loss of accuracy and precision of the analysis. The method in this study is developed to minimize the increase in nonspecific ACH-DNPH with a view to optimize mainly the synthetic condition of ACH-DNPH. The background is decreased dramatically by gentle deproteination, optimization of the DNPH amount and reaction pH, and reversed-phase solid extraction for the elimination of excess DNPH reagent. The standard curves show good linearity between 0 and 100 microM and minimal background is observed, indicating that the method is useful for monitoring the ACH concentration in blood.     

Automated solid-phase extraction method for the determination of piperaquine in plasma by peak compression liquid chromatography

A validated bioanalytical method for the determination of piperaquine (PQ) in plasma by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography (LC) using peak compression is presented. Protein is precipitated from plasma with acetonitrile-1% aqueous acetic acid (85:15, v/v). An internal standard (IS) is added to the samples before they are loaded onto a strong cation exchanger (Isolute PRS) SPE column. PQ and the IS are analyzed by LC on a Zorbax SB-CN column (250 x 4.0 mm) with the mobile phase acetonitrile-phosphate buffer [I = 0.1, pH 2.5 (12:88, v/v)] and UV detection at 345 nm. Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) is added to the samples prior to injection into the chromatography system. PQ elutes in a gradient of TCA, which enables peak compression of PQ and significantly higher peak efficiency as a result. The intraassay precision for plasma is determined to be 5.4% at 3.00 microM and 5.8% at 0.050 microM. The interassay precision for plasma is 1.3% at 3.00 microM and 10.0% at 0.050 microM. The lower limit of quantitation and the limit of detection are 0.025 and 0.005 microM, respectively.     

Use of solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of triazine residues in water: validation of the method

A method for determination of some triazine residues in water has been developed. The method involves concentration with C18 solid-phase extraction cartridges followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis using a C18 column with UV detection at 230 nm, a mobile phase of methanol-water (60:40, v/v) at pH 4.6 (phosphoric acid) and a flow-rate of 0.8 ml/min. After optimization of the extraction and separation conditions, the method was validated. The method can be used for determination of atrazine, simazine, cyanazine and ametryn in water, within the international limits of 0.1 microg/l.     

Determination of tetracyclines residues in honey by on-line solid-phase extraction high-performance liquid chromatography

An automated system using on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) detection was developed for the determination of tetracyclines (TCs), such as tetracycline (TC), oxytetracycline (OTC), chlortetracycline (CTC), metacycline (MC), and doxycycline (DC) in honey. One milliliter diluted honey sample was injected into a conditioned C18 SPE column and the matrix was washed out with water for 3 min. By rotation of the switching valve, TCs were eluted and transferred to the analytical column by the chromatographic mobile phase. Chromatographic conditions were optimized. TCs were separated in less than 8 min with a gradient elution using a mixture of 0.8% formic acid and acetonitrile. The UV detection was performed at 365 nm. The conditions for on-line SPE, including solvent and total time for loading sample and washing matrix were also optimized. Time for extraction and separation decreased greatly. For the five kinds of TCs, the limits of detection (LODs) at a signal-to-noise of 3 ranged from 5 to 12 ng g⁻¹. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) for the determination of TCs ranged from 3.4 to 7.1% within a day and ranged from 3.2 to 8.9% in 3 days, respectively.     

Development and validation of a multi-residue method for pesticide determination in honey using on-column liquid-liquid extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

We report on the development and validation under ISO 17025 criteria of a multi-residue confirmatory method to identify and quantify 17 widely chemically different pesticides (insecticides: Carbofuran, Methiocarb, Pirimicarb, Dimethoate, Fipronil, Imidacloprid; herbicides: Amidosulfuron, Rimsulfuron, Atrazine, Simazine, Chloroturon, Linuron, Isoxaflutole, Metosulam; fungicides: Diethofencarb) and 2 metabolites (Methiocarb sulfoxide and 2-Hydroxytertbutylazine) in honey. This method is based on an on-column liquid-liquid extraction (OCLLE) using diatomaceous earth as inert solid support and liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) operating in tandem mode (MS/MS). Method specificity is ensured by checking retention time and theoretical ratio between two transitions from a single precursor ion. Linearity is demonstrated all along the range of concentration that was investigated, from 0.1 to 20 ng g(-1) raw honey, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.921 to 0.999, depending on chemicals. Recovery rates obtained on home-made quality control samples are between 71 and 90%, well above the range defined by the EC/657/2002 document, but in the range we had fixed to ensure proper quantification, as levels found in real samples could not be corrected for recovery rates. Reproducibility is found to be between 8 and 27%. Calculated CCalpha and CCbeta (0.0002-0.943 ng g(-1) for CCalpha, and 0.0002-1.232 ng g(-1) for CCbeta) show the good sensitivity attained by this multi-residue analytical method. The robustness of the method has been tested in analyzing more than 100 raw honey samples collected from different areas in Belgium, as well as some wax and bee samples, with a slightly adapted procedure.     

Determination of rotenone residues in raw honey by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography

A method for determining residues of the insecticide rotenone in raw-honey by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. To extract the residues, organic solvents such as ethyl acetate, n-hexane/dichloromethane and solid-phase extraction with octadecylsilane cartridges or Florisil packed columns were tested. Determination was carried out by reversed-phase HPLC using acetonitrile-buffer phosphate (pH 7) (60:40, v/v) as mobile phase and detection at 210 nm. Although the data showed that the two extraction methods were able to isolate the pesticide residues, the extraction on octadecylsilane cartridges was preferred due to its simplicity and higher recovery. Recoveries depended strongly on the fortification level for the two extraction procedures. Practical determination limits of 0.015 mg/kg were obtained. In the analysis of honeys, from beehives treated with rotenone at therapeutical doses for 1 month, residual amounts below 0.2 mg/kg were found.     

Development of a solid-phase extraction method for determination of pheophorbide a and pyropheophorbide a in health foods by liquid chromatography

A simple solid-phase extraction (SPE) method was developed for the liquid chromatography (LC) determination of pheophorbide (Phor) a and pyropheophorbide (Pyro) a in health foods such as chlorella, spirulina, etc. The food sample was extracted with 85% (v/v) acetone. The extract was acidified with hydrochloric acid and loaded on a C18 cartridge. After washing with water, Phor a and Pyro a were eluted with the LC mobile phase. Phor a and Pyro a were separated by isocratic reversed-phase LC and quantitated by fluorescence detection. The recoveries for spiked samples of chlorella and the extract were 87.1-102.0%. Commercial health foods (chlorella, spirulina, aloe, kale, Jews mallow, and green tea leaves) were analyzed using the SPE method. The values found for Phor a and Pyro a ranged from 2 to 788 microg/g and from <1 to 24 microg/g, respectively. There was no significant difference between the SPE method and the official method in Japan (spectrophotometry after liquid-liquid extraction). The advantages of the SPE method are the short extraction times, lack of emulsions, and reduced consumption of organic solvents compared with the official method in Japan. The SPE method is considered to be useful for the screening of Phor a and Pyro a in health foods.     

Dispersive solid-phase extraction for the determination of sulfonamides in chicken muscle by liquid chromatography

A new, fast and low-cost sample preparation for the determination of sulfonamide (SA) residues in chicken muscle by LC technique has been developed. The procedure involves single extraction of sample with acetonitrile, followed by a rapid clean-up and was called "dispersive solid-phase extraction" (dispersive SPE). Using dispersive SPE 25 mg of octadecyl sorbent was added to 1 ml of acetonitrile extract, mixed and centrifuged. The acetonitrile layer was evaporated and residue was dissolved in acetate buffer (pH 3.5). Analysed compounds were detected by fluorescence detector after pre-column derivatization with fluorescamine. The separation of analytes was performed with gradient elution with mobile phase methanol: 2% acetic acid and RP-LC analytical column. The whole procedure was evaluated for six sulfonamides (sulfadiazine, sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfametoxypirydazine, sulfametoxazole and sulfadimetoxine) according to the European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. Specificity, decision limit (CCalpha), detection capacity (CCbeta), trueness and precision were determined during validation process. The dispersive SPE with octadecyl sorbent was found suitable for sample preparation before sulfonamide determination in chicken muscle. As it was found the most of endogenous matrix components were removed and the analytes were isolated from spiked samples with recoveries above 90%. The used analytical conditions allow to successively separate all the tested sulfonamides with the limit of detection at the level of 1-5 microg/kg. The method is simple, rapid and more effective than conventional methods.     

A rapid multiresidue method for determination of pesticides in fruits and vegetables by using acetonitrile extraction/partitioning and solid-phase extraction column cleanup

A modification of a rapid and inexpensive multiresidue method for determination of pesticides in fruits and vegetables (QuEChERS method) is presented. Samples were extracted by shaking with acetic acid-acetonitrile (1 + 99). Water was removed by liquid-liquid partitioning with magnesium sulfate and sodium acetate. The extract was subjected to a single solid-phase extraction (SPE) column cleanup, which produced a cleaner extract than did the dispersive SPE cleanup used in the original QuEChERS method. Recovery data were obtained for 316 pesticide residues, at levels ranging from 20 ppb to 1.0 ppm. Data were provided by 3 different laboratories. The modified QuEChERS method resulted in a 65% reduction in solvent usage, when compared with the traditional multiresidue methods previously used in our laboratories.     

Development and validation of a method using on-line solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection for the determination of bisphenol A, octylphenol, and nonylphenol in groundwater

Alkylphenols are nonbiodegradable metabolites arising from various pathways of aerobic and anaerobic degradation of the nonionic surfactants alkylphenol ethoxylates. A method based on the use of on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography (LC) with UV detection was developed to determine bisphenol A, octylphenol, and nonylphenol at trace levels in water. The on-line coupled SPE procedure automatically enables an approximately 300-fold preconcentration of analytes, which can be further enhanced by an increase in applied sample volume. By using C18 cartridges, recoveries of >90% were obtained for all the analytes. A validation procedure was carried out with a groundwater sample to ensure the quality of the results; performance criteria such as detection limits (LODs), quantitation limits (LOQs), linearity, and precision were evaluated. LODs and LOQs in the range of 0.17-0.36 and 0.35-1.88 microg/L, respectively, were found; for all the analytes, linearity was established over 2 orders of magnitude (r2 >0.997, n = 54). The intraday repeatability values expressed as relative standard deviations were <5.3%; a nested analysis of variance was performed to verify the influence of 3 different factors, i.e., different days, extraction procedure, and LC replicate injection, on data precision.     

Determination of niacin in infant formula by solid-phase extraction/liquid chromatography: peer-verified method performance-interlaboratory validation

This paper reports the results of the interlaboratory peer validation study of AOAC Peer-Verified Method (PVM) 1:2,000 for the determination of niacin in infant formula by solid-phase extraction/liquid chromatography. We have used a Data Quality Objectives (DQO) approach to address not only method variability and robustness but also accuracy of data through the use of an appropriate reference material in conjunction with the interlaboratory validation study. Our DQO included the following: (1) statistical agreement of analytical results and quantitative recovery between 2 collaborating laboratories; (2) the repeatability relative standard deviation (RSDr) values and the HORRAT (Horwitz ratio) obtained (1.07), which satisfied the criteria of the Horwitz "limits of acceptability" at the analyte level present; (3) validation of lack of interference; and (4) accuracy agreement within assigned values for a certified reference material. National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material (NIST SRM) 1846 Infant Formula, with a certified value of 63.3 +/- 7.6 microg/g for niacin content, was used as a test material for collaborative study and accuracy assessment. Niacin values obtained by the originating laboratory were 59.7 +/- 4.0 microg/g (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4 microg/g with a relative standard deviation [RSD] of 6.7%) and by the peer laboratory were 56.6 +/- 6.6 microg/g (95% CI = 4.1 microg/g, with an RSD of 11.7%). Statistical evaluation using the means equivalence test showed that nicotinic acid values obtained by the peer laboratory were equivalent to those values obtained by the originating laboratory. Linear calibration curves and quantitative recovery were obtained. Integration of the PVM process with a readily available certified reference material gives the user confidence in the accuracy of the data generated by the method through traceability to the reference material used.     

Molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction for determination of tilmicosin in feed using high performance liquid chromatography

A simple, sensitive and reproducible molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) coupled with high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for monitoring tilmicosin in feeds. The polymers were prepared using tylosin as mimic template molecule, methacrylic acid as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linking monomer, and chloroform as a solvent by bulk polymerization. Under the optimum MISPE conditions, the novel polymer sorbent can selectively extract and enrich tilmicosin from variety of feeds. The MISPE cartridge was better than non-imprinted, C₁₈ and HLB cartridges in terms of both recovery and precision. Mean recoveries of tilmicosin from five kinds of feeds spiked at 1, 10 and 50 mg kg⁻¹ ranged from 76.9% to 95.6%, with intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviation less than 7.6%. The linearity was ranged from 1.0 to 100 mg L⁻¹ for matrix standard solution (r = 0.9990). The limit of detection was approximately 0.35 mg kg⁻¹ and the limit of quantification was approximately 0.98 mg kg⁻¹. There was cleaner chromatogram by using MISPE than C₁₈ and HLB SPE.     

Application of matrix solid-phase dispersion and high-performance liquid chromatography for determination of sulfonamides in honey

A novel method for simultaneous determination of 8 sulfonamide residues (sulfathiazole, sulfapyridine, sulfadiazine, sulfamerazine, sulfamonome-thoxine, sulfachloropyridazine, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfadimethoxine) in honey samples by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been developed on the basis of precolumn derivatization with 9-fluorenylmethyl-chloroformate (FMOC-Cl). Sulfonamide residues in honey samples were extracted and purified by matrix solid-phase dispersion with C18 as the solid support. The residues were derivatized by FMOC-CI, and the FMOC-sulfonamide derivatives were further purified by solid-phase extraction with silica gel as the solid support prior to HPLC analysis. The average recoveries for most sulfonamide compounds at different spiking levels (from 10 to 250 microg/kg) were > 70% with relative standard deviations < 16%, and their limits of detection were 4.0 microg/kg. The established analytical method has high sensitivity and repeatability and can be applicable for determining the sulfonamide residues in various honey matrixes.     

Determination of niacin in infant formula and wheat flour by anion-exchange liquid chromatography with solid-phase extraction cleanup

Niacin content must be included on food labels of infant formula products and bakery products containing enriched flour. Liquid chromatographic (LC) determination of niacin in complex food matrixes is complicated by the presence of endogenous compounds that absorb at the commonly used wave-length of 260 nm. Also, the presence of particulate matter in the standard sulfuric acid extraction procedure results in reduced life of LC columns and precolumns. A simple, rapid, solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure for separation and cleanup of niacin from a complex food matrix digest has been developed. By using a vacuum manifold with the SPE column system, multiple samples can be processed quickly and efficiently for LC analysis, compared with gravimetric column cleanup. Sulfuric acid sample digest is passed over an aromatic sulfonic acid cation-exchange (ArSCX-SPE) or a sulfonated Florisil SPE column. Niacin is eluted with 0.25M sodium acetate-acetic acid, pH 5.6 buffer in vacuo. LC chromatograms of the resulting eluate are free of interference from other components absorbing at 260 nm at the retention time of niacin. Validation of the method was obtained from agreement of analytical results on available reference materials. For both SPE methods, values for niacin in SRM 1846 Infant Formula (milk-based powder) were within uncertainty ranges of the certified value. Use of several calibration procedures (the LC computer program, a peak area response graphic standard curve, or the method of standard additions) with both SPE procedures resulted in niacin values for 3 RM-Wheat Flours (not certified for niacin) in agreement (90-105%) with their respective values reported in the literature. Several commercial wheat flours showed a broad 260 nm interference, resulting in high niacin values. Niacin recoveries from spiked soy-based liquid infant formulas ranged from 95-107% with the ArSCX-SPE column. Calibration curves of niacin were linear up to 400 micrograms/mL, with a detection limit of 0.2 microgram/mL.