Occurrence of antimicrobial residues in Brazilian food animals in 2008 and 2009.

Brazil is one of the most important countries as a producer and exporter of cattle and poultry. In 2009 cattle accounted for 30% of the export market and 41.4% for poultry meat. The Brazilian National Residues and Contaminants Control Plan (PNCRC) follows the guidelines set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and checks compliance maximum residue limits (MRLs) to ensure the quality of these commodities. Kidney samples (n = 2978) were analysed between January 2008 and December 2009. Fifteen antibiotics of the macrolide and aminoglycoside groups (clindamycin, eritromycin, lincomycin, tylmicosin, tylosin, amikacin, apramycin, dihydrostreptomycin, gentamycin, higromycin, kanamycin, neomycin, spectinomycin, streptomycin, tobramycin) were determined by a microbiological screening method (FAST) and confirmed/quantified using liquid chromatography (LC-MS/MS and UPLC-MS/MS). In 2008, 1459 samples were analysed by a screening test and liquid chromatography with only one sample (0.07%) exceeded Brazilian legislation limits (>MRL). In 2009, 1519 samples were analysed and none exceeding Brazilian legislation limits (>MRL). The slaughterhouses of 16 states were monitored during the year of 2008, and 18 states were monitored in 2009, being the major producing states most sampled by the PNCRC.

Optimisation and validation of a quantitative and confirmatory LC-MS method for multi-residue analyses of ß-lactam and tetracycline antibiotics in bovine muscle.

A multi-residue method for the determination of the ß-lactam antibiotics ampicillin, cefazolin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, penicillin G, penicillin V and the tetracyclines chlotetracycline, tetracycline and oxytetracycline was optimised and validated in bovine muscle. The method is based on the extraction of the residues from muscle using water/acetonitrile (2/8, v/v) with subsequent use of dispersive solid-phase C18 and hexane for purification. Extracts were analysed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC-MS/MS) coupled with the mass spectrometer in positive electrospray ionisation mode (ESI+) for all analytes. The method was validated according to the requirements of European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The validation results were obtained within the MRL range of 0-1.5 of the MRL, with recoveries varying from 90% to 110% and CV < 20% (n = 54), except for cloxacillin, dicloxacillin and nafcillin. However, matrix interference was observed. The decision limit (CCα) ranged from 10% to 15% of the MRL. The uncertainty measurement was estimated based on both bottom-up and top-down strategies and the uncertainty values were found to be lower than 20% of the MRL. The method has a simple extraction procedure whereby analytes are separated with reasonable resolutions in a single 11-min chromatographic run. According to the validation results, this method is suitable for monitoring ß-lactams and tetracyclines according to National Program for Residue and Contaminant Control - Brazil (NPRC-Brazil) in bovine muscle.