Multi-class, multi-residue analysis of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and novel flame retardants in fish using fast, low-pressure gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

A multi-class, multi-residue method for the analysis of 13 novel flame retardants, 18 representative pesticides, 14 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 7 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners in catfish muscle was developed and evaluated using fast low pressure gas chromatography triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (LP-GC/MS–MS). The method was based on a QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, safe) extraction with acetonitrile and dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) clean-up with zirconium-based sorbent prior to LP-GC/MS–MS analysis. The developed method was evaluated at 4 spiking levels and further validated by analysis of NIST Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) 1974B and 1947. Sample preparation for a batch of 10 homogenized samples took about 1h/analyst, and LP-GC/MS–MS analysis provided fast separation of multiple analytes within 9min achieving high throughput. With the use of isotopically labeled internal standards, recoveries of all but one analyte were between 70 and 120% with relative standard deviations less than 20% (n=5). The measured values for both SRMs agreed with certified/reference values (72–119% accuracy) for the majority of analytes. The detection limits were 0.1–0.5ngg−1 for PCBs, 0.5–10ngg−1 for PBDEs, 0.5–5ngg−1 for select pesticides and PAHs and 1–10ngg−1 for flame retardants. The developed method was successfully applied for analysis of catfish samples from the market.