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Gas chromatography–triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry: a powerful tool for the (ultra)trace analysis of multiclass environmental contaminants in fish and fish feed

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Abstract

A new method for rapid determination of 73 target organic environmental contaminants including 18 polychlorinated biphenyls, 16 organochlorinated pesticides, 14 brominated flame retardants and 25 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fish and fish feed using gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) was developed and validated. GC–MS/MS in electron ionization mode was shown to be a powerful tool for the (ultra)trace analysis of multiclass environmental contaminants in complex matrices, providing measurements with high selectivity and sensitivity. Another positive aspect characterizing the newly developed method is a substantial simplification of the sample preparation, which was achieved by an ethyl acetate QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe) based extraction followed by silica minicolumn clean-up. With use of this sample preparation approach the sample laboratory throughput was increased not only because six samples may be prepared in approximately 1 h, but also because all the above-mentioned groups of contaminants can be determined in a single GC–MS/MS run. Under the optimized conditions, the recoveries of all target analytes in both matrices were within the range from 70 to 120 % and the repeatabilities were 20 % or less. The method quantification limits were in the range from 0.005 to 1 μg kg–1 and from 0.05 to 10 μg kg–1 for fish muscle tissue and fish feed, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of halogenated persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fish and fish feed samples.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support by the European Commission through the Seventh Framework Programme (contract no. FP7–211326–CP – CONffIDENCE) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (MSM6046137305 and contract no. IDS 7E08068) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition, Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Technicka 3, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Kamila Kalachova, Jana Pulkrabova, Tomas Cajka, Lucie Drabova, Michal Stupak & Jana Hajslova

Authors
  1. Kamila Kalachova
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  2. Jana Pulkrabova
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  3. Tomas Cajka
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  4. Lucie Drabova
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  5. Michal Stupak
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  6. Jana Hajslova
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jana Hajslova.

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Published in the topical collection Rapid Detection in Food and Feed with guest editors Rudolf Krska and Michel Nielen.

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Kalachova, K., Pulkrabova, J., Cajka, T. et al. Gas chromatography–triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry: a powerful tool for the (ultra)trace analysis of multiclass environmental contaminants in fish and fish feed. Anal Bioanal Chem 405, 7803–7815 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7000-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7000-4

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