Preparative method for gas chromatographic/mass spectral analysis of trace quantities of pesticides in fish tissue.

A large capacity, low efficiency pesticide cleanup method is combined with a small capacity, high efficiency method for gas chromatographic/mass spectral analysis of fish tissue. Trace chemicals are extracted from the tissue, removed from the bulk of the co-extracted lipids through selective desorption from Micro Cel-E, and isolated from the remaining lipids by gel permeation chromatography. The procedure is capable of cleaning up the extract from several hundred grams of fish, minimizes sample contamination, and permits identification of xenobiotic chemicals present at ng/g concentrations.