Determination of Hexazinone and Its Major Metabolites in Livestock Products by LC-MS/MS

Abstract

A method for the determination of hexazinone and three metabolites (hexazinone metabolite B, hexazinone metabolite C, hexazinone metabolite F) in livestock products by LC-MS/MS was developed. Hexazinone and the three metabolites were extracted from a sample with acetonitrile in the presence of n-hexane, and lipid was removed by acetonitrile/n-hexane partition. The acetonitrile extract was cleaned up using a SAX/PSA cartridge column. Average recoveries (n=5) of hexazinone and the three metabolites from cattle meat, fat, liver and milk spiked at the maximum residue limits (MRLs) or at 0.0025 mg/kg ranged from 85.6 to 96.0%, and the relative standard deviations ranged from 0.8 to 4.9%.