Simultaneous determination of sex hormones in egg products by ZnCl2 depositing lipid, solid-phase extraction and ultra performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

A method was developed for simultaneous determination of residues of 17 sex hormones in egg products. Target compounds were extracted from samples with methanol in an ultrasonic bath, effectively separated from lipids in the extracts by ZnCl(2) depositing filtration and purified using a C(18) solid-phase extraction (SPE) and followed by NH(2) SPE cartridge. The analytes were quantified by liquid chromatography using a BEH C(18) column coupled to an electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometer (LC-ESI-MS/MS) operating in negative mode for estrogens and in positive multiple reaction monitoring mode for androgens.