Simultaneous determination of the residues of anesthetics and sedatives in fish using LC-QLIT-MS/MS combined with DSPE

Liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole linear ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (LC-QLIT-MS/MS) technology operated in electrospray ionization (ESI) was developed for tracing anesthetic (AETs) and sedatives (SDTs) in fish. Sampling procedure was achieved by using acetonitrile extraction followed by dispersive solid phase extraction (DSPE) clean-up. Under the optimized laboratory conditions, reliable qualitative confirmation was obtained through the multiple reaction monitoring-information dependent acquisition-enhanced product ion (MRM-IDA-EPI) mode. Results indicated a favorable linear in the concentration range of 1-100 mu g.kg(-1) (0.1-10 mu g.kg(-1) for MS-222), with regression coefficient not less than 0.9997. The detection limit ranges from 0.03 to 0.4 mu g.kg(-1) (S/N = 3). The validated method was applied to determine AETs and SDTs in fish with satidfied recoveries of 86.3 %-111.7 % and the relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.9 %-8.9 % (n = 6). Practical samples analysis indicated that the proposed method is simple, rapid, sensitive and accurate for identification of AETs and SDTs.

Automated summary

This study developed a method for tracing anesthetics and sedatives in fish using liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole linear ion trap tandem mass spectrometry. The method achieved reliable qualitative confirmation through the optimized laboratory conditions and the MRM-IDA-EPI mode. The method demonstrated good linear relationship and low detection limits, making it suitable for the determination of anesthetics and sedatives in fish.