Determination of sulfamethazine in swine and cattle feed by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with post-column derivatization: pre-collaborative study.

In-house validation of a liquid chromatographic method for determination of sulfamethazine in swine and cattle feed was performed to verify that the method was ready for collaborative study under AOAC INTERNATIONAL guidelines. In this method, sulfamerazine is added during the extraction procedure and is used as an internal standard to correct for variable recovery of sulfamethazine from a variety of swine and cattle feed matrixes. The determinative step involves the use of post-column derivatization with dimethylaminobenzaldehyde which reacts with the primary amine group on the sulfonamides. Detection is at 450 nm, a wavelength at which most co-extracted matrix materials and other feed additives do not absorb light. The results indicate that the method recovery, precision, and ruggedness meet normal criteria to be ready for a collaborative study. Fortification experiments over a range of sulfamethazine concentrations from 0.006 to 0.26% showed an overall recovery relative to the internal standard of 100 +/- 2%. These studies include both swine and cattle feed matrixes. The mean recovery in the analysis of 3 beef cattle experimental feeds was 98.9%. The method results agreed with the AOAC INTERNATIONAL Official Method for colorimetric analysis of swine feed. Method precision was excellent during in-house validation studies, with coefficients of variation (CVs) ranging from about 0.5 to 3%. The method ruggedness was verified with an overall CV of 3.5%.