Simultaneous Analysis of Multiple Classes of Antibiotics in Water and Soil Samples via Solid Phase Extraction and Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The analytical protocols were developed and tested for simultaneous determining three groups of antibiotics including four fluoroquinolones (FQs), three tetracyclines (TCs) and eleven sulfonamides (SAs), in water and soil samples. Solid phase extraction (SPE) was used to enrich and to clean up the aqueous samples. The potassium phosphate buffer and acetonitrile mixture solutions were used to extract the compounds from the soil samples. The target compounds were determined by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The recoveries for the investigated antibiotics in water samples ranged from 60% to 105% with 2-14% of relative standard deviation (RSD). In soil samples, the recoveries were between 56% and 97% with 1-20% of RSD. The limits of quantification (LOQs) in water and soil samples were in the range of 1.2-10.6 ng/L and 0.2-29.6 μg/kg, respectively. Finally, the protocols were applied to environmental samples colleted from the Yuqiao Reservoir region. The FQs and SAs were detected in the water samples but none of target compounds were found in soil samples.