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Determination of estrogens and progestogens by mass spectrometric techniques (GC/MS, LC/MS and LC/MS/MS)
Author(s) -
DíazCruz M. Silvia,
López de Alda María J.,
López Ramón,
Barceló Damià
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 1076-5174
DOI - 10.1002/jms.529
Subject(s) - chemistry , chromatography , derivatization , mass spectrometry , bstfa , atmospheric pressure chemical ionization , chemical ionization , electrospray ionization , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , tandem mass spectrometry , selected reaction monitoring , selected ion monitoring , liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry , trimethylsilyl , ionization , ion , organic chemistry
Steroid sex hormones and related synthetic compounds have been shown to provoke alarming estrogenic effects in aquatic organisms, such as feminization, at very low concentrations (ng/L or pg/L). In this work, different chromatographic techniques, namely, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS), are discussed for the analysis of estrogens, both free and conjugated, and progestogens, and the sensitivities achieved with the various techniques are inter‐compared. GC/MS analyses are usually carried out after derivatization of the analytes with bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA). For LC/MS and LC/MS/MS analyses, different instruments, ionization techniques (electrospray (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)), ionization modes (negative ion (NI) and positive ion (PI)) and monitoring modes (selected ion monitoring (SIM) and selected reaction monitoring (SRM)) are generally employed. Based on sensitivity and selectivity, LC/ESI‐MS/MS is generally the method of choice for determination of estrogens in the NI mode and of progestogens in the PI mode (instrumental detection limits (IDLs) 0.1–10 ng/mL). IDLs achieved by LC/ESI‐MS in the SIM mode and by LC/ESI‐MS/MS in the SRM mode were, in general, comparable, although the selectivity of the latter is significantly higher and essential to avoid false positive determinations in the analysis of real samples. Conclusions and future perspectives are outlined. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.