Rapid detection of five anesthetics in tilapias by in vivo solid phase microextraction coupling with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The concentration of five rapidly metabolized anesthetics in living tilapias was determined in this study, by the presented method coupling in vivo solid phase microextraction (SPME) to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which was the first time that in vivo sampling method was adapted in detecting the anesthetic residue in the living aquatic product. The analytical performance of the developed method was evaluated in homogenized tilapia dorsal muscle, and the results demonstrated that the present method possessed low detection limits 1.7-9.4ngg-1), wide linear ranges (10 or 30-5000ngg-1), and satisfactory reproducibility (relative standard deviations no more than 8.1% and 10.8% for inter-fiber and intra-fiber assays, respectively). Standard curves were established in homogenized tilapia dorsal muscle for calibrating in vivo SPME in living tilapias. And the concentrations determined by in vivo SPME were close to those determined by the liquid extraction. By using the present method, one anesthetic residue was detected above the detection limit in tilapias from the local markets. Comparing to traditional methods, the present one exhibited superior time-efficiency and cost performance, as the extraction time was only ten minutes, which was short to successfully avoid the possible loss of analytes caused by elimination and sample storage. In addition, owing to the time-efficiency of the present method, the elimination of the anesthetics in tilapias was traced successfully in the laboratory.