Multi-target determination of organic ultraviolet absorbents in organism tissues by ultrasonic assisted extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

•Multi-target determination of organic UV absorbents in complex organism tissues.•Good sensitivity and accuracy.•Report occurrence of the UV absorbents in wild and farmed marine organisms in China.

A sensitive and reliable method was developed for multi-target determination of 13 most widely used organic ultraviolet (UV) absorbents (including UV filters and UV stabilizers) in aquatic organism tissues. The organic UV absorbents were extracted using ultrasonic-assisted extraction, purified via gel permeation chromatography coupled with silica gel column chromatography, and determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Recoveries of the UV absorbents from organism tissues mostly ranged from 70% to 120% from fish filet with satisfactory reproducibility. Method quantification limits were 0.003–1.0 ng g−1 dry weight (dw) except for 2-ethylhexyl 4-methoxycinnamate. This method has been applied to analysis of the UV absorbents in wild and farmed aquatic organisms collected from the Pearl River Estuary, South China. 2-Hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone and UV-P were frequently detected in both wild and farmed marine organisms at low ng g−1 dw. 3-(4-Methylbenzylidene)camphor and most of the benzotriazole UV stabilizers were also frequently detected in maricultured fish. Octocrylene and 2-ethylhexyl 4-methoxycinnamate were not detected in any sample. This work lays basis for in-depth study about bioaccumulation and biomagnification of the UV absorbents in marine environment.