Determination of chloramphenicol in animal tissues and urine: Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry versus gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Abstract

A very sensitive method was developed for detection and confirmation of chloramphenicol (CAP) in equine, porcine and bovine muscle and urine. The method included ethyl acetate extraction of CAP followed by a two-step C18 solid-phase clean up; recovery was >80%. Extracted CAP was determined by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) in negative atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode. LC–MS/MS gave superior sensitivity and selectivity compared to that shown by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) in electron impact mode. Even in a “dirty” matrix, such as urine, the estimated CAP detection limit for LC–MS/MS detection was 0.02 μg kg −1 while the corresponding value for GC–MS was only 2 μg kg −1.