Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop an analytical method for sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfadiazine,sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole, sulfathiazole) and their metabolites (N4-acetylsulfadiazine, N4-acetylsulfamerazine, N4-acetylsulfamethazine, N4-acetylsulfamethoxazole, sulfamethoxazole-N1-glucuronide) in environmental samples. The solid phase extraction (SPE) with LC/ESI-MS/MS have been used for the analysis of target compounds, and the recoveries of SPE clean-up were at the range of 12-94% for C18 cartridge, 60-95% for HLB cartridge, 25-123% for MCX cartridge, and 70-90% for tandem HLB/MCX. By established method, detection limit,recovery, and relative standard deviation were 0.001~0.187 ng/mL, 66~115%, and 5~17%, respectively. This method was effective and sensitive to use for the simultaneous determination of sulfonamide antibiotics and their metabolites in environmental samples. Four sulfonamide antibiotics were detected at the range of 0.008~2.153 ng/mL. For metabolites, only N4-acetylsulfamethoxazole was detected, but the concentration was under the MDL level.