New extraction method prior to screening of organic micropollutants in various biota matrices using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A new extraction method with limited clean-up requirements prior to screening various matrices for organic micropollutants using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) for analysis was developed. First, the performance of three extraction methods (QuEChERS with SPE clean-up, ultrasonication with SPE clean-up, extraction without SPE clean-up) was tested, optimized, and compared using >200 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) together covering a wide range of physicochemical properties applicable for suspect and non-target screening in biota. White-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) muscle tissue was used in method development and optimization. The method without SPE clean-up was then applied to European perch (Perca fluviatilis) muscle, heart, and liver tissues. The optimization and application of the method demonstrated a wide applicable domain of the novel extraction method regarding species, tissues, and chemicals. For future applications, the suitability of the method for suspect and non-target screening was tested. Overall, our extraction method appears to be sufficiently simple and broad (relatively non-discriminant) for use prior to analysis of CECs in various biota.