Multi-Residue Screening and Confirmatory Analysis of Anabolic Steroids in Urine by Gas Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The diversity of substances used illegally as growth promoters in meat production requires the development of multi-analyte methods of analysis involving a sample pretreatment step that is as rapid and as easy as possible, followed by a specific and sensitive determination of several residues within the same run. A general strategy for the screening and confirmatory analysis of fifteen artificial anabolic compounds in urine samples is described. It is based on solid-phase extraction on C18 Empore discs and amino-bonded columns followed, after derivatization (trimethylsilyl or methyloxime-trimethylsilyl derivatives), by gas chromatography coupled with collisionally activated dissociation tandem mass spectrometry.