Development and validation of a multianalyte immunoassay for the quantification of environmental pollutants in seawater samples from the Catalonia coastal area

Five different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) have been developed and applied for the detection of five representatives of important families of chemical pollutants in seawater: Irgarol 1051 (R) (triazine biocide), sulfapyridine and chloramphenicol (antibiotics), 17 beta-estradiol (hormone), and domoic acid (algae toxin). The assays were validated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) showing good correlation between both immunochemical and chemical techniques. A process of extraction and clean-up was added prior to the analysis based on solid-phase extraction (SPE). The multianalyte platform presented good specificity for each compound and adequate sensitivity, with limits of detection (LOD) after the SPE treatment of 0.124 +/- 0.006, 0.969 +/- 0.09, 0.20 +/- 0.05, 1.11 +/- 0.012, and 1.39 +/- 0.09 ng L-1 for Irgarol 1051 (R), sulfapyridine, chloramphenicol, 17 beta-estradiol, and domoic acid, respectively. No matrix effects were noticed in working with the seawater extracts. Afterward, seawater samples from the Mediterranean Sea (coastal area of Catalonia) were analyzed by both techniques and only one sample presented one contaminant, 17 beta-estradiol, in the concentration of 0.011 +/- 0.04 mu g L-1.