Abstract:

A method for the rapid determination of eight perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in fish muscles was developed
by isotope dilution ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS-MS). Samples were
extracted with acetonitrile after addition of eight isotopically labeled internal standards. The extracts were cleaned up on a
WAX solid phase extraction column. The target compounds were separated on a ZORBAX Eclipse plus C18 (100 mm ×
3.0 mm, 3.5 μm) and analyzed by a triple quadruple tandem mass spectrometer with electrospray ionization source (EIS)
in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The analytes were quantified by the internal standards labeled with stable
isotopes. The standard curves were linear in the ranges of 0.1–50.0 μg/L for 8 PFCs with correlation coefficients greater than
0.998. The limits of detection were 0.03–0.15 μg/kg. The average recoveries of PFCs in fish muscles were in the range of
87.7%–104.4%. The relative standard deviations (RSD) for PFCs were in the range of 4.1%–10.7%. These results show that
the method is sensitive and accurate, and suitable for the qualitative and quantitative determination of PFCs residues in fish
muscle samples.

Key words: isotope dilution, ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, fish muscles, perfluorinated compounds