Abstract: A fast high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the quantitative determination of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in tilapia, Litopenaeus vannamei and golden scallop. After being homogenized, samples were extracted with 10 mL of neutral ethyl acetate by vibration, and after removing the moisture with sodium sulfate, 5 mL of the upper layer was concentrated with nitrogen blowing, re-dissolved with 1 mL of 0.1% formic acid in methyl alcohol:5 mmol/L ammonium acetate (3:7, V/V), and degreased with hexane. The target compounds were quantified by the matrix-matched external standard method. Under optimized conditions, the lower limits of quantitation (LLOQs) for T-2 and HT-2 toxins in three aquatic products were 2 and 4 μg/kg, respectively. The linear range was 2–100 ng/mL for T-2 toxin and 4–200 ng/mL for HT-2 toxin. The average recoveries for three aquatic samples at three spiked levels ranged from 84.3% to 109.9% for T-2 toxin and 90.9% to 103.2% for HT-2 toxin. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were in a range of 2.0%–8.7% for T-2 toxin and 2.6%–10.6% for HT-2 toxin (n = 6). The method is simple, rapid, accurate, precise and suitable for the simultaneous detection of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in the three representative aquatic products.

Key words: T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS)