Application of multiwalled carbon nanotubes as sorbents for the extraction of mycotoxins in water samples and infant milk formula prior to high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry analysis

In this work, a simple and environmental friendly methodology has been developed for the analysis of a group of sixmycotoxins with estrogenic activity produced by Fusarium species (i.e. zearalanone, zearalenone, alpha-zearalanol, beta-zearalanol, alpha-zearalenol, and beta-zearalenol), using microdispersive SPE the symbol micro should de before dSPE with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as sorbent. Separation, determination, and quantification were achieved by HPLC coupled to ion trap MS with an ESI interface. Parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of mu-dSPE such as pH of the sample, amount of multiwalled carbon nanotubes, and type and volume of elution solvent, were studied and optimized. The methodology was validated for mineral, pond, and wastewater as well as for powdered infant milk using 17 beta-estradiol-2,4,16,16,17-d(5) (17 beta-E-2-D-5) as internal standard, obtaining recoveries ranging from 85 to 120% for the three types of water samples and from 77 to 115% for powdered infant milk. RSD values were lower than 10%. The LOQs achieved were in the range 0.05-2.90 mu g/L for water samples and 2.02-31.9 mu g/L for powdered infant milk samples.