Confirmatory method for the determination of resorcylic acid lactones in urine sample using immunoaffinity cleanup and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

The presence of zeranol (α-zearalanol) in urine samples due to natural contamination or illegal treatment is under debate within the European Union. The simultaneous determination of zeranol, its epimer taleranol (β-zearalanol), zearalanone and the structurally related mycotoxin zearalenone with the corresponding α- and β-zearalenol metabolites appears to be critical in deciding whether an illegal use has occurred. The aim of this study is to develop and validate a simple analytical procedure applicable to bovine and swine urine samples for the determination of all six resorcylic acid lactones. After an enzymatic deconjugation, the urine was subjected to a one-step cleanup on a commercially available immunoaffinity chromatography cartridge. The analytes were detected by liquid chromatography–negative-ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry using deuterium-labelled internal standards. The method was validated as a quantitative confirmatory method according to European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The evaluated parameters were: linearity, specificity, precision (repeatability and intra-laboratory reproducibility), recovery, decision limit, detection capability and ruggedness. The decision limits (CCα) obtained, were between 0.56 and 0.68 μg L−1; recovery above 66% for all the analytes. Repeatability was between 1.4 and 5.3% and within-laboratory reproducibility between 1.9 and 16.1% for the six resorcylic acid lactones.