Multiresidue analysis of tranquilizers and the beta-blocker Carazolol in meat by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

A fast and simple method for the quantification of a number of tranquilizers and the beta-blocker Carazolol in pork and bovine kidney is described. Extracts are purified/concentrated by a solid phase extraction step and separated on a reversed phase column with an alkaline (ammonia) acetonitrile gradient. The electrospray tandem mass spectrometer is operated in positive ion multireaction monitoring mode. Resulting chromatograms are free of interfering peaks. The recovery is >75% for all analytes and the limit of detection <1 ppb, which is well below the current maximum residue limit for the various compounds. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.