Reported prevalence and quantitative LC-MS methods for the analysis of veterinary drug residues in honey: a review

Abstract

Insect pollination increases the value and productivity of three-quarters of crop species grown for food. Declining beehive health in commercial apiaries has resulted in numerous reports from government laboratories worldwide of contamination with antimicrobial chemicals in honey. This review includes pertinent discussion of legislation and events leading to increased government oversight in the commercial honey market. A detailed summary of the variety and prevalence of veterinary drug residues being found in honey as well as a selection of robust quantitative and confirmatory LC-MS methods with an emphasis on those adopted by government testing laboratories are presented.

Evaluation and validation of a biochip multi-array technology for the screening of 14 sulphonamide and trimethoprim residues in honey according to the European guideline for the validation of screening methods for veterinary medicines

“…It can be hypothetised that the AM I kit is able to detect bound sulphonamides or, the kit detects only free-sulphonamides, but very low CCβ. Table 10 presents a review of articles dealing with the occurrence of positive honey samples for sulphonamides (Bogdanov, 2006;Economou, Petraki, Tsipi, & Botitsi, 2012;Kaufmann & Kaenzig, 2004;Näumann, Mahrt, Himmelreich, Mohring, & Frerichs, 2012;Reybroeck, 2003;Reybroeck, Daeseleire, De Brabander, & Herman, 2012;Reybroeck et al, 2010;Tölgyesi et al, 2013;Venable, Haynes, & Cook, 2014).…”

Residue Determination in Honey

“…The first RASFF notifications for the presence of QNs in honey were reported in 2007 in Chinese products. Their use was confirmed by the frequent detection of QN residues in honey also by other control authorities, such as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CCFIA) [14]. To date, the only compounds found in bee products are enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin.…”

“…For the analysis of residues in food, nowadays, LC-MS is the standard internationally accepted technology already available in most laboratories that is capable of providing structural information about the analytes. Different mass spectrometer platforms have been successfully employed for the analysis of veterinary drugs in honey [14]. Since early 2000s, triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS) platform has been introduced in routine worldwide laboratories, and at present, this MS technology is the gold standard for routine analysis of complex sample extracts.…”

“…As early as 1940s, sodium sulphathiazole was registered for the control of American foulbrood in United States, but its use was later banned because residues of the drug continued to be found many months after its administration. Residues of sulphadiazine, sulphadimethoxine, sulphamerazine, sulphamethazine and sulphamethoxazole have been also detected in honey [12,14]. Sulphonamides have good UV absorption with maxima in the range of 260-275 nm, and since the 1980s, confirmatory methods have been developed using HPLC coupled to UV detection.…”

“…The efficacy of the oxytetracycline for control of European foulbrood has been widely demonstrated as early as 1950s. In honey, beyond oxytetracycline (brand name: Terramycin ® ), tetracycline and chlortetracycline residues have been detected, too [12,14]. Because of their polar nature, tetracyclines have the ability to strongly bind to proteins as well as to chelate with divalent metal ions.…”