The development and validation of a multiclass liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) procedure for the determination of veterinary drug residues in animal tissue using a QuEChERS (QUick, Easy, CHeap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) approach.

A novel rapid multiresidue/multiclass procedure with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) detection has been developed to screen for the presence of veterinary drug residues in animal tissues. The method uses a new sample preparation procedure loosely based on QuEChERS (QUick, Easy, CHeap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) methodology. Validation to date has been restricted to chicken muscle and has been performed according to European Commission guidelines [COMMISSION DECISION of 12 August 2002 implementing Council Directive 96/23/EC concerning the performance of analytical methods and the interpretation of results] for nitroimidazoles, sulphonamides, fluoroquinolones, quinolones, ionophores and dinitrocarbanilide. Recent work has shown that the method is also applicable to macrolide and lincosamide antibiotics, benzimidazoles, levamisole, avermectins and tranquillisers.