Extraction, clean-up and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry characterization of zilpaterol as feed additive in fattening cattle

Zilpaterol is an adrenergic drug currently licensed in Mexico and South Africa as a feed additive for cattle close to consignment. In this study an analytical method to detect zilpaterol in commercial feeds was set up. The influence of extraction solvent and matrix was evaluated. The drug as a trimethylsilyl derivative was characterized by GC–MS, on a quadrupole detector, in the electron impact mode. Acidic extraction, solid-phase extraction C18 non-endcapped clean-up and mass characterization on ions m/z 308, 291, 405, 390 provided zilpaterol recoveries >75.3% and repeatability <3.3% in feeds spiked in the range 30.0–120.0 ng/g. The limits of detection and quantification were 7.5 and 25.0 ng/g, respectively. Such limits are well below the dose of 5.0–20.0 μg/g proposed as effective.