Analysis of toxic organotin compounds

Detecting pesticides and antibiotic drug residues

LC and LC/MS
Agilent's LC and LC/MS systems are ideal for analyzing the newest generation of polar or moderately polar pesticides and antibiotic drug residues at trace levels. These easy-to-use systems not only allow for simplified approaches to sample workup but also provide a sensitive, rugged, and more rapid means to analyze many of the compounds found in food and water.

Because of the widespread use of organotin compounds, scientists now detect them in most marine and fresh-water sediments. In recent years, organotin analysis has begun to include matrices with human health implications, such as seafood, manufactured products, and human blood samples. Both HPLC-ICP-MS and GC-ICP-MS offer advantages for organotin speciation analysis. HPLC-ICP-MS can be used for cheaper and faster determinations of large sample batches, while the superior sensitivity and the more numerous separation of analytes make GC-ICP-MS an ideal tool for monitoring studies at the ultratrace level.

Retention time locking boosts productivity

Agilents exclusive retention time locking (RTL) makes it much easier and faster to analyze target contaminants in complex food matrices. With RTL, analysts get the same retention times from day to day and from instrument to instrument, anywhere in the world. The technology is so consistent that Agilent offers universal methods and turnkey RTL databases for pesticides, phenols, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phthalates, and other compound classes. Agilents software and its pesticide database make it possible to screen a GC/MSD data file for 567 pesticides and endocrine disruptors in less than a minute.

EtBu3Sn
80000 70000 60000 Abundance 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 1.00 1.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 Time 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00

Ion 120.00 (119.70 to 120.70): msd1.ms

(TBT)
Et3Bu2Sn

(DBT)

Et3BuSn

(MBT)

EtBu3Sn

(TPhT)

80000 70000 60000 Abundance 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 1.00 1.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00

Ion 117.00 (116.70 to 117.70): msd1.ms

117Sn enriched TBT

spike

TIN MERCURY ARSENIC LEAD

8.00

9.00

10.00

ICP-MS can act as a sensitive, selective, element-specific detector for both GC and LC in elemental speciation analysis. Here GC-ICPMS is used to detect organotin species.
Source: Courtesy of Raimund Wahlen, LGC Ltd., UK.

CADMIUM NICKEL

GC and GC/MS

Much of the advancement in LC/MS during the last ten years has been in the development of ionization techniques. The introduction of atmospheric pressure ionization (API) techniques greatly expanded the number of compounds that can be successfully analyzed by LC/MS. Common API techniques are: Electrospray ionization (ESI) Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) Atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI)

100,000 Electrospray Ionization 10,000

Molecular Weight

1000

APPI APCI

100

10 Nonpolar Polarity Very Polar

Antibiotic drug residues in meats. Pesticides in fruits and vegetables. Toxic metals in seafood. Ensuring the purity and safety of the food and water supply is an increasingly complex challenge. Every day, in countries around the world, Agilents chemical analysis solutions and expertise play a key role. With state-of-the-art instrumentation, creative software solutions, high quality consumables and proven environmental and food expertise, Agilent helps labs meet the challenges of food analysis.

A partial listing of the Agilent pesticide RTL database. Database includes expected retention time, compound name, CAS number, formula, molecular weight, target, and qualifier ions.

Agilents industry-leading GC and GC/MS systems are the workhorses of routine food analysis, offering fast, high-efficiency separations with greater sensitivity and reliability. Ideal for the analysis of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, these systems are the first choice for high-volume analysis of pesticides and other contaminants in water and food.

There are more than 700 pesticides currently used worldwide, and the list is growing. No single separation technology can effectively analyze such a diverse collection of compounds. With Agilents complete line of separation systems, you can routinely detect and measure all of these compounds and more.

Source: Courtesy of Raimund Wahlen, LGC Ltd., UK

Applications of various LC/MS ionization techniques

Each ionization technique is suitable for different classes of compounds and each has advantages and disadvantages depending on the type of information needed. The following figure shows total ion chromatograms of the same mixture of phenyl urea and carbamate standards from three ionization sources. All compounds show good signals. However, ESI gives the highest absolute response. In terms of signal-to-noise ratio, APPI is the best source for phenyl urea analysis and ESI is the best source for carbamate analysis.

Food Safety
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Information, descriptions, and specifications in this publication are subject to change without notice. Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2003 Printed in the U.S.A. August, 2003 5989-0010EN