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Laboratory Information Bulletin
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Animal Drugs Research Center, Denver, CO
ABSTRACT
A triple quadrupole liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method is
presented for the quantitative determination and confirmation of melamine residues in
catfish. Catfish tissue was extracted with 50:50 acetonitrile:water and 1 N
hydrochloric acid and cleaned-up using Oasis® MCX solid phase extraction
cartridges. Extracts were analyzed by LC-MS-MS with HILIC chromatography and
electrospray ionization in positive ion mode. The precursor ion for melamine is m/z
127. Two product ion transitions were monitored at m/z 85 and 68 for quantification
and confirmation. Catfish tissue was fortified at 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 ng/g (ppb).
The average recovery of melamine from fortified samples (n = 17) was 76.3 % with
an RSD of 14.3 %.
INTRODUCTION
Pet food, animal feed, wheat gluten, and other protein-based food commodities were
recently found to contain residues of melamine, an industrial chemical used in the
manufacturing of plastics, flame retardants, and other products. It is not approved by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in food or animal feed. Because
animals may eat food contaminated with melamine residues, there is a need for
analytical methods to determine melamine residues that may be present in animal
tissues. This Laboratory Information Bulletin presents a method for the determination
of trace levels of melamine in catfish muscle.
EXPERIMENTAL
Equipment and reagent sources have been provided for information and guidance.
Equivalent products may be substituted as appropriate.
Equipment
Standard Solutions
Control Tissues
Control tissues were fillets of fresh or frozen, aquacultured catfish that were obtained
from a local market, from the FDA Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory (GCSL), and from
the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM).
Tissue preparation
Skinless fillets of catfish were blended with dry ice in a blender/homogenizer with
pulsed action until the contents were uniform and had the consistency of a fine
powder. The homogenate was placed in a Whirl-Pak bag, loosely sealed and stored in
the freezer (-25 °C) overnight to allow the carbon dioxide to dissipate, and then sealed
until the time of analysis. Tissue may be ground by this or an equivalent method.
Sample Fortification
Extraction
An Oasis MCX SPE cartridge was used to clean-up sample extracts. All SPE elution
steps including conditioning, sample application, washing, and the final elution were
performed without the application of vacuum. Vacuum was only applied to dry the
cartridges. The SPE cartridge was conditioned with 5 mL of methanol followed by 5
mL of water. The sample was applied to the conditioned cartridge and allowed to
elute by gravity. The column was washed with 5 mL of 0.1 N HCl, followed by 2 mL
of methanol. The cartridge was dried by applying vacuum for 1 minute. The column
was eluted into a glass culture tube using 5 mL of 5 % ammonium hydroxide in
methanol. The eluate was evaporated to dryness at 55 °C under flowing nitrogen at 15
psi for 20 minutes. The dried extract was reconstituted in 1.0 mL of 95:5
acetonitrile:ammonium formate (20 mM), vortex mixed for 10 seconds, and filtered
through a 0.2 µm nylon syringe filter into a glass LC vial.
Several end spikes (ES) were evaluated to determine the loss of instrumental
sensitivity due to ion suppression and to confirm that solvent standards, rather than
matrix standards, could be used in this method. For these, control tissue was extracted
according to the procedure above, but before the final dried extract was reconstituted
in mobile phase, an appropriate aliquot of standard was added to the culture tube.
Acetonitrile:ammonium formate (20 mM) (95:5) was then added to produce a final
volume of 1.0 mL. For example:
These samples were then vortex mixed for 10 seconds and syringe-filtered into a glass
LC vial.
LC-MS-MS Analysis
It should be noted that the following scan events and mobile phase gradient for the
LC-MS-MS were set up in this method validation to detect not only melamine, but
also ammeline (ANE), ammelide (ADE), and cyanuric acid (CYA). As will be
described below, the extraction described herein was only suitable for the
determination of melamine. For the first 1.3 minutes after sample injection, a negative
ion scan event was included (m/z 128→85) to detect cyanuric acid, but this compound
was not evaluated at this time. For the rest of the chromatographic run, three positive
ion scan events with two SRM transitions each were monitored according to the
following chart:
Quantitative
Confirmatory
SRM transition
Retention Time Precursor Ion SRM transition
Compound (m/z)
(min) (m/z) (m/z)
(Collision
(Collision Energy)
Energy)
MEL 2.7 127 85 (7) 68 (23)
ANE 3.1 128 86 (5) 69 (26)
ADE 2.0 129 87 (14) 70 (27)
The LC-program for the three amine compounds was based on one developed at
Procter and Gamble. A Waters Atlantis HILIC silica column was used with an
acetonitrile:ammonium formate buffer (20 mM) gradient. The mobile phase
composition started out at 95 % acetonitrile and decreased (linearly) to 50 %
acetonitrile over 5 minutes. The mobile phase was then returned to 95 % acetonitrile
between 5 and 7 minutes, and the column was re-equilibrated for 5 minutes. The flow
rate was 350 µL/min. The column was kept in an insulated compartment, but the
temperature was not controlled. The injection volume was 10 µL and the needle was
flushed with 400 µL of 50:50 water:methanol between samples. The LC flow was
diverted to waste for the first 0.14 minutes and again at 6 minutes.
Quantitative data was obtained from the area counts of the chromatographic peak
observed with the SRM of the m/z 127→85 selective ion monitoring transition using
QuanBrowser® software and the ICIS integration program. The melamine found in
each fortified sample was calculated from the peak areas of this transition using a
calibration curve generated from melamine standards with concentrations ranging
from 10 to 2000 ng/mL (ppb) in mobile phase. For confirmation, peak area counts
from the m/ z127→85 and m/z 127→68 SRM transitions were generated with the
ICIS algorithm in the QualBrowser® software program. Gaussian smoothing function
of five points was applied. Relative abundances were calculated from these peak areas
and compared to contemporary standards.
In the control catfish tissue, a small peak was observed at the retention time for
melamine at a level that could not be quantified. The signal-to-noise ratio of this peak
was not greater than 3:1. Melamine was not confirmed in any of the control tissues.
Melamine was not detected in the method blank.
The standard curve for solvent-based external standards was linear over the range
from 10 to 2000 ng/g. Two calibration curves were prepared for two different days of
analysis. One was over the range 10 to 100 ng/mL with r2 = 0.9972, and the other was
over the range 25 to 2000 ng/mL with r2 = 0.9997. The end spike samples analyzed in
conjunction with the fortified samples had recoveries ranging from 87.6 to 97.8 %
indicating that ion suppression was not significant. The use of solvent-based standards
is justified for this method. An internal standard was not used in this method.
In addition to melamine, tissues were also fortified with ammeline (ANE) and
ammelide (ADE) (standards were prepared similarly to those for MEL). However, the
recovery of ANE and ADE from fortified tissues was low. Approximately 15 % of the
ANE residue was recovered from the tissue at the 100 ng/g fortification level, and 32
% was recovered at the 500 ng/g fortification level. ANE was not detected at the 50
ng/g fortification level. ADE was only 3 % recovered at the 500 ng/g fortification
level, and could not be detected at the lower levels. The current extraction procedure
is not acceptable for these compounds.