title: Analysis of azole fungicides in fish muscle tissues: Multi-factor optimization and application to environmental samples.
abstract: Azole fungicides have been reported to be accumulated in fish tissue. In this study, a sensitive and robust method using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry combined with ultrasonic extraction, solid-liquid clean-up, liquid-liquid extraction and solid-phase extraction (SPE) for enrichment and purification have been proposed for determination of azole fungicides in fish muscle samples. According to the results of non-statistical analysis and statistical analysis, ethyl acetate, primary secondary amine (PSA) and mixed-mode cation exchange cartridge (MCX) were confirmed as the best extraction solvent, clean-up sorbent and SPE cartridge, respectively. The satisfied recoveries (81.7-104%) and matrix effects (-6.34-7.16%), both corrected by internal standards, were performed in various species of fish muscle matrices. Method quantification limits of all azoles were in the range of 0.07-2.83ng/g. This optimized method was successfully applied for determination of the target analytes in muscle samples of field fish from Beijiang River and its tributaries. Three azole fungicides including climbazole, clotrimazole and carbendazim were detected at ppb levels in fish muscle tissues. Therefore, this analytical method is practical and suitable for further clarifying the contamination profiles of azole fungicides in wild fish species.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Light Industry, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
authors.forename: Yuanhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China; Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resources Utilization & Cultivation, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China. Electronic address: chenzhf@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Zhi-Feng
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
authors.forename: Shuang-Shuang
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resources Utilization & Cultivation, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resources Utilization & Cultivation, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China.
authors.forename: Xinping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resources Utilization & Cultivation, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China.
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resources Utilization & Cultivation, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China.
authors.forename: Shugui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
authors.forename: Guoguang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Zongwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001393:Azoles / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D020387:Food Chain; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001393:Azoles; D005659:Fungicides, Industrial; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Analytical method; Azole fungicide; Bioaccumulation; Fish muscle; Hierarchical clustering heatmap