Development, optimization and validation of a multi-residue and multi-class method for determination of antibiotic residues in piglet liver by ultra-high-pressure-liquid- chromatography tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Antibiotics may be administered in food-producing animals for therapeutic and prophylactic purpose. The use of antibiotics as growth promoters in food-producing animals can also be considered, although fraudulent in Europe. The persistent consumption of animal foods containing antibiotic residues can lead to direct toxic effects, such as allergic reactions in some hypersensitive individuals, or indirect effects, such as appearance of bacterial strains resistant to the drugs used in veterinary medicine, becoming a worldwide concern. Therefore, it is of extreme importance for public health, as well as consumer food safety, to monitor possible antibiotics that can be found in animals for food consumption, in particular piglets since it produces a highly consumed meat in Portugal. In this study, piglet liver samples from the Bairrada region were analyzed using a ultra-hight-pressure-liquid- chromatography-tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ToF-MS) to detect the presence of 45 antibiotics from 7 different families such as tetracyclines, sulfonamides, quinolones, penicilins, macrolides, cephalosporins and trimethoprim. The analytical methodwas developed, optimized and validated, in accordance with Decision 2002/657/EC, by evaluating the following required parameters: decision limit (CCα), detection capacity (CCβ), specificity, selectivity, recovery, repeatability and reproducibility.