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

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 mug kg(-1) while the corresponding value for GC-MS was only 2 mug kg(-1). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.