Contribution to the development of analysis methods of pentachlorophenol in animal feeding stuffs by liquid chromatography hyphenated with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

Abstract

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) was popularly used as herbicides, disinfectants and protectors from woodeaters and white ants. PCP is a toxic substance that might cause cancer in humans. Although it has been restricted since 1980, the PCP is till existing in the environment widely. The research was implemented to investigate the optimal conditions for analytical methods of PCP in animal feeding stuffs on LC-MS/MS equipment. PCP was extracted by the QuEChERS method using acetonitrile with a high extraction efficiency in comparison with methanol and water solvents. The final extract was analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to double mass spectrometry which was operated in the negative electro-spray ionisation mode. The recovery of PCP in animal feeding stuffs was 91% at the PCP levels for the detection limit of 0.33 ng/g and the quantification limit of 1.1 ng/g with a coefficient variation of 6.1%. This study applied the optimal analytical method to analyse 28 feeding stuff samples collected in the market and results showed that PCP concentrations of all samples were below the detection limit.