Multiresidue determination of veterinary drugs in aquaculture fish samples by ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

A simple, selective and fast multiresidue method was developed for the determination of 32 veterinary drug residues belonging to several families, in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) by ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS). The extraction was based on modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) procedure, using as extraction solution a mixture of acetonitrile and methanol (75:25, v/v), and it reduces sample handling, increasing sample throughput in relation to current methodologies. The developed method was validated and mean recovery ranged from 69% to 125% (at 10, 25, 50 and 100 μg/kg). Intra and interday precision, estimated as the same levels and expressed as relative standard deviation, RSD, were lower than 20% and 30%, respectively. Limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were lower than 7.5 and 25 μg/kg, respectively, except for danofloxacin, oxytetracycline and tetracycline (LOD and LOQ of 15.0 and 50 μg/kg, respectively). Decision limit (CCα) and detection capability (CCβ) were also calculated and ranged from 16.7 μg/kg (levamisole) to 605.0 (flumequine) μg/kg and from 23.5 μg/kg (levamisole) to 611.5 μg/kg (flumequine), respectively. The expanded uncertainty, U, was also evaluated ant it was below 25% at 100 μg/kg level, except for tetracycline (28%). Finally, the method was applied to ten samples obtained from local supermarkets in Almería (Spain) and traces of some compounds were detected.

► Simultaneous analysis of several classes of veterinary drugs in fish.
► QuEChERS methodology approach has been coupled to UHPLC–MS/MS.
► The proposed method minimizes sample handling and increases sample throughput.
► The validation procedure allows a reliable determination of target analytes.
► The proposed method can be applied in routine analysis for multirresidue determination.