Development of a simultaneous multi-residue analysis for screening and confirmation of 7 veterinary drugs in bovine milk by LC-MSMS

A simple and fast analytical method based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was developed for detection of the veterinary drugs acetanilide, anthranilic acid, antipyrine, cyproheptadine, diphenhydramine, DL-methylephedrine, and phenacetin in bovine milk. The target analytes were extracted from milk samples by using acetonitrile followed by clean-up with C 18 and liquid-liquid purification with saturated n-hexane. A reverse-phase analytical column was employed with a mobile phase comprising (A) 0.1% formic acid in distilled water and (B) 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile to achieve the best chromatographic separation. Matrix-matched calibration curves (r²≥ 0.9986) were constructed using six concentrations (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 40 μg/kg) of drugs in the milk matrix. Recoveries at three drug-spiking levels (5, 10, and 20 μg/kg) ranged from 71.2% to 103.8% with intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviation (RSD) values of ≤ 8.6%. The calculated limits of quantification (LOQ) were 0.19-7.1 μg/kg.