Supramolecular solvents in solid sample microextractions: Application to the determination of residues of oxolinic acid and flumequine in fish and shellfish

Supramolecular solvents are here proposed firstly as extractants in solid sample microextractions. The approach was evaluated by extracting flumequine (FLU) and oxolinic acid (OXO), two widely used veterinary medicines, from fish and shellfish muscle using a supramolecular solvent made up of decanoic acid (DeA) reverse micelles. The antibiotics were extracted in a single step (∼15 min), at room temperature, using 400 μL of solvent. After centrifugation, an aliquot of the extract was directly analyzed by liquid chromatography and fluorescence, without the need of clean-up or solvent evaporation. Contrary to the previously reported methods, both OXO and FLU were quantitatively extracted from fish and shellfish, independently of sample composition. The high extraction efficiencies observed for these antibiotics were a consequence of their amphiphilic character which resulted in the formation of DeA-OXO and DeA-FLU mixed aggregates. The quality parameters of this quantitative method including sensitivity, linearity, selectivity, repeatability, trueness, ruggedness, stability, decision limit and detection capability were evaluated according to the 2002/657/EC Commission Decision. Quantitation limits in the different samples analyzed (salmon, sea trout, sea bass, gilt-head bream, megrim and prawns) ranged between 6.5 and 22 μg kg⁻¹ for OXO and, 5 and 15 μg kg⁻¹ for FLU. These limits were far below the current maximum residue limits (MRLs) set by the European Union (EU) (i.e. 100 and 600 μg kg⁻¹, for OXO and FLU, respectively). The trueness of the method was determined by analyzing a Certified Reference Material (CMR, BCR^®-725) consisting of a lyophilised salmon tissue material. Recoveries for fortified samples (50–100 μg kg⁻¹ of OXO and 50–600 μg kg⁻¹ of FLU) and their relative standard deviations were in the intervals 99–102% and 0.2–5%, respectively. The repeatability, expressed as relative standard deviation, was 3.6% for OXO and 2.3% for FLU ([OXO] = [FLU] = 200 μg kg⁻¹ and n = 11).     

A simplified method for simultaneous quantitation of alkylphenols and alkylphenol ethoxylates in meat and fish using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

Nonylphenol (NP), octylphenol (OP), nonylphenol monoethoxylate (NP₁EO) and nonylphenol diethoxylate (NP₂EO) are products of the biodegradation of alkylphenol polyethoxylates (AP _n EO) which are used worldwide as detergents and surfactants. NP and OP are categorized as definitely endocrine disruptors. 2,4-Tert-butylphenol (BP) is extensively used for anti-oxidant of rubber and plastics. This work proposed a simple and stable method for simultaneously determining the concentration of NP, OP, BP, n-NP₁EO and n-NP₂EO in meat and fish, without requiring the complex pretreatments of current methods. This study used liquid extraction with acetonitrile and hexane and solid extraction using Florisil, in that order to pretreat samples. The sample solutions were analyzed to identify NP, OP, BP, n-NP₁EO and n-NP₂EO by HPLC with fluorescence detection. The mean recoveries were 85.3?±?3.32% for OP, 87.5?±?6.01% for BP, 90.9?±?4.72% for NP, 86.4?±?4.81% for n-NP₂EO and 90.9?±?4.84% for n-NP₁EO. The average coefficients of variation were about 6%. The method's detection limits were 5.4?ng?g^?1 for OP, 5.2?ng?g^?1 for BP, 8.9?ng?g^?1 for NP, 8.7?ng?g^?1 for n-NP₂EO and 8.1?ng?g^?1 for n-NP₁EO. This work analyzed 5 kinds of usual foodstuffs of meat and fish that are frequently consumed by residents of Taiwan. All of these samples contained NP, but not detectable levels n-NP₁EO. Only salmon was contaminated with n-NP₂EO. The NP level was highest in cod (198.41?±?129.34?ng?g^?1, wet weight). The fried chicken had the highest BP level (48.0?±?41.3?ng?g^?1, wet weight), and the uncooked chicken had the highest OP level (66.6?±?53.0?ng?g^?1, wet weight).     

Seafood freshness determination through vapour phase Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

A new vapour-phase manifold has been developed to determine trimethylamine (TMA) in fish and cephalopod samples by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Samples were treated off-line for 1 h with trichloroacetic acid (TCA), filtered and washed. The obtained extracts were aspirated and alkalinized with NaOH 2.0 M, in an on-line system. TMA was separated from the solution in a gas phase separator and then transported by means of a nitrogen carrier into a home made 10 cm pathlength IR gas cell, where the corresponding FT-IR spectra were acquired by accumulating 30 scans per spectrum with 2 cm⁻¹ nominal resolution. The method was applied to the determination of TMA in natural samples providing concentration values statistically comparables with those obtained by a head space gas chromatography (HS-GC) reference procedure. The sample throughput by FT-IR is increased by a factor of 6 as compared with HS-GC.     

Amperometric Sniffer for Volatile Amines Based on Paper‐Supported Room Temperature Ionic Liquids Enabling Rapid Assessment of Fish Spoilage

A gas sensors based on a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) supported on paper is proposed as amperometric sniffer for monitoring volatile amines (VAs) released from fish samples, in order to gain indication of their state of turning spoiled. It was used as a paper electrochemical detector (PED) for a flow injection system in which controlled headspace volumes in equilibrium with ice‐stored fish samples were directly injected. The performance of this RTIL‐PED sensor was preliminarily tested on synthetic samples of trimethylamine (TMA), dimethylamine (DMA), methylamine (MA) and ammonia (i.e. the main species responsible for the typical flavor of spoiled fish), thus verifying that only TMA, DMA and MA can be detected because NH₃ oxidation occurred beyond the solvent discharge. This notwithstanding, detection of the sole TMA, DMA and MA as a whole turned out to be well suited for the rapid assessment of fish spoilage, since during storage the release enhancement for these amines is largely predominant over that of NH₃. Repeatable (8 % RSD) sharp peaks were detected for all amines above over a wide range (5–1000 nmol) and a detection limit of a little more than 3 nmol was inferred for a signal‐to‐noise ratio of 3. This approach was applied to the detection of VAs released from real fish samples (sardines), in parallel to the determination of their total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN), which is a conventional indicator frequently adopted for the chemical quality assessment of fish. A substantially satisfactory agreement was found by comparing the data achieved by these two approaches.     

鱼肉组织中多溴联苯醚的定量分析

多溴联苯醚(PBDEs)是一类广泛用于家用电器、电子产品、塑料泡沫、家居装饰材料等行业的添加型阻燃剂[1],使用量最多的是五溴联苯醚(penta-BDE),八溴联苯醚(octa-BDE)和十溴联苯醚(deca-BDE)3种[2]。最近的研究表明[4-6],多溴联苯醚已广泛地存在于各种环境介质、生物体及人体中     

Suitability of selective pressurized liquid extraction combined with gas chromatography-ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers

A one-step extraction and clean-up method using pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) (selective PLE) combined with gas chromatography-ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (GC-ITMS-MS) was evaluated for the analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (from tri- to hepta-PBDEs) at low concentrations in fish and shellfish samples. To this end, the performance of an on-line PLE extraction/clean-up method and of a classical Soxhlet extraction and clean-up method using a multi-layer modified silica column were compared. The two sample treatment methods provided similar results, although an important reduction in the sample treatment time (40 min per sample) was achieved using the selective PLE method. In addition, the suitability of the PLE combined with GC-ITMS-MS method was evaluated by comparing the results obtained in the analysis of fish samples with those obtained by gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS). Good agreement between both techniques was obtained with differences between the mean values of less than 16%. The selective PLE method coupled to GC-ITMS-MS produced accurate results for PBDE determination with low limits of detection (1.0-16.8 pg g⁻¹ wet weight) and quantification (3.1-51 pg g⁻¹ wet weight) as well as good precision (RSD < 16%). This method has been applied to the analysis of PBDEs in fish and shellfish samples collected at fish markets in Catalonia (NE Spain).     

Determination of As, Cd, Pb and Se in DORM-1 dogfish muscle reference material using alkaline solubilization and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with Ir+Rh as permanent modifiers or Pd+Mg in solution

In this work, tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) was used to solubilize the DORM-1 dogfish muscle certified reference material as a model substance for the determination of As, Cd, Pb and Se by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET AAS). The sample was mixed with a small amount of TMAH and heated to 60 °C for 10 min in a water bath. After dissolution, As and Se were determined using palladium and magnesium nitrates as a chemical modifier added in solution. For Cd and Pb, best results were obtained with a mixture of 250 μg of each of iridium and rhodium as permanent modifiers. In both cases, the calibration was performed with aqueous solutions in 0.2% v/v HNO₃. The temperature program for each analyte was optimized using pyrolysis and atomization curves established with the fish reference material. The detection limits in dry samples and the characteristic mass values were: Cd 0.005 μg g⁻¹ and 0.9 pg; Pb 0.04 μg g⁻¹ and 7.6 pg; As 0.4 μg g⁻¹ and 13 pg and Se 0.6 μg g⁻¹ and 20 pg, respectively. Results from the determination of these elements in the DORM-1 certified fish reference material were within the 95% confidence interval of the certified values.     

Combined biological and chemical assessment of estrogenic activities in wastewater treatment plant effluents

Five wastewater treatment plant effluents were analyzed for known endocrine disrupters and estrogenicity. Estrogenicity was determined by using the yeast estrogen screen (YES) and by measuring the blood plasma vitellogenin (VTG) concentrations in exposed male rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). While all wastewater treatment plant effluents contained measurable concentrations of estrogens and gave a positive response with the YES, only at two sites did the male fish have significantly increased VTG blood plasma concentrations after the exposure, compared to pre-exposure concentrations. Estrone (E1) concentrations ranged up to 51 ng L^–1, estradiol (E2) up to 6 ng L^–1, and ethinylestradiol (EE2) up to 2 ng L^–1 in the 90 samples analyzed. Alkylphenols, alkylphenolmonoethoxylates and alkylphenoldiethoxylates, even though found at µg L^–1 concentrations in effluents from wastewater treatment plants with a significant industrial content, did not contribute much to the overall estrogenicity of the samples taken due to their low relative potency. Expected estrogenicities were calculated from the chemical data for each sample by using the principle of concentration additivity and relative potencies of the various chemicals as determined with the yeast estrogen screen. Measured and calculated estradiol equivalents gave the same order of magnitude and correlated rather well (R ²=0.6).An erratum to this article can be found at     

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the identification of organobrominated compounds in bluefin tuna

This study evaluates comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-ToF MS) for the simultaneous analysis of several classes of organobromines (OBs), including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), methoxylated PBDEs (MeO-PBDEs), several halogenated naturally produced compounds (HNPs) and eight novel brominated flame retardants (NBFRs), polybrominated hexahydroxanthene derivates (PBHDs), 2,4,6-tribromoanisole and a mixed halogenated compound (MHC-1), in bluefin tuna muscles. The proposed methodology maximised separation of both within and among OB families, and among these and other halogenated micropollutants detected in these samples and co-extracted matrix components. Special attention has been paid to solve co-elution problems observed during the analysis of OBs with one-dimensional GC-based techniques. Satisfactory separation among several relevant PBDEs and MeO-PBDEs has been obtained allowing their unambiguous determination in a single run. Additional studies were conducted to identify selected NBFRs and HNPs. 2,4-Dibromoanisole, a dibromophenol isomer and hexabromobenzene were identified in the investigated samples. Several new tri- and tetra-BHD derivates were also identified, indicating that these compounds could apparently exist as structured families in nature. In addition, a tetrabrominated diMeO-biphenyl and two tetrabrominated diMeO-BDEs were also tentatively identified.     

Development of a group selective molecularly imprinted polymers based solid phase extraction of malachite green from fish water and fish feed samples

A group selective molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE) for malachite green (MG) from fish water and fish feed samples was developed. Using MG as template molecule, methacrylic acid as functional monomer, ethylene glycoldimethacrylate as linking agent and bulk polymerization as synthetic method, the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized and characterized with rebinding experiment. The Scatchard polt's analysis revealed that the template-polymer system showed the two-site binding behavior with dissociation constants of 0.3194 μmol L⁻¹ and 15.70 μmol L⁻¹, respectively. MG and two structurally related compounds, leucomalachite green (LMG) and crystal violet (CV) were employed for selectivity test. The MIPs exhibited the highest selective rebinding to MG, but also displayed 83.0% and 87.5% of cross-reactivity with LMG and CV, demonstrating that MIPs could be used as group recognition sorbents in solid phase extraction. The extraction conditions of MISPE column for MG were optimized. Tap water samples spiked with MG at concentration of 0.5-10 ng mL⁻¹ were extracted by MISPE column and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography. The recoveries of MISPE column for MG extraction were found to be 76.8-93.7% with the relative standard deviations of 2.12-10.09%, indicating the feasibility of the prepared MIPs for MG extraction. No detectable MG was observed in one fish farming water sample and two fish feed samples; while the MG concentrations in two pet fishpond water samples were found at 1.50 ng mL⁻¹ and 0.67 ng mL⁻¹, respectively.