Multiresidue determination of quinolone and fluoroquinolone antibiotics in fish and shrimp by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A multiresidue method was developed to measure low levels of 8 fluoroquinolones (norfloxacin, ofloxacin, danofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, desethylene ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, sarafloxacin, and difloxacin) and 4 quinolones (oxolinic acid, flumequine, nalidixic acid, and piromidic acid). Method detection limits range from 0.1 ng/g for quinolones to 0.4 ng/g for fluoroquinolones. Average recoveries range from 57 to 96%, depending on analyte and commodity; relative standard deviations are all less than 18%. The drugs are extracted from tissues using a mixture of ethanol and 1% acetic acid, diluted in aqueous HCI, and defatted by extraction with hexane. The compounds are further isolated using cation-exchange solid-phase extraction and measured using liquid chromatography with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry detection. The method has been evaluated and applied to the analysis of salmon, trout, and shrimp. Detectable residues were observed in 10 out of 73 samples, at concentrations ranging from 0.28 to 16 ng/g.