Simple and sensitive monitoring of β2-agonist residues in meat by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry using a QuEChERS with preconcentration as the sample treatment

• Development of new rapid analytical method for 10 β2-agonists in meat at levels of trace amounts
• Combination QuEChERS–LC–MS/MS was applied.
• DVB–NVP–SO3Na was synthesised and firstly applied it as the cleansing agent in QuEChERS method.
• The method's advantages are rapider, cheaper, excellent recovery and RSDs, and very low LOD and LOQ.
• The processes of extraction and clean are environmentally friendly.

A liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometric detection (LC–MS/MS) method was established for the simultaneous determination of the levels of 10 β2-agonists in meat. The samples were extracted using an aqueous acidic solution and cleaned up using a Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) technique utilising a DVB–NVP–SO3Na sorbent synthesised in-house. First, the β2-agonist residues were extracted in an aqueous acidic solution, followed by matrix solid-phase dispersion for clean-up. The linearities of the method were R2 = 0.9925–0.9998, with RSDs of 2.7–15.3% and 73.7–103.5% recoveries. Very low limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ) of 0.2–0.9 μg/kg and 0.8–3.2 μg/kg, respectively, were achieved for spiked meat. The values obtained were lower than the maximum residue limits (MRLs) established by the EU and China. These results clearly demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. The evaluated method provided reliable screening, quantification and identification of 10 β2-agonists in meat.