Enantioselective LC-MS/MS determination of antidepressants, β-blockers and metabolites in agricultural soil, compost and digested sewage sludge

Abstract

In this work, an analytical method was optimised and validated for the simultaneous extraction and enantioselective determination of chiral β-blockers, antidepressants and two of their metabolites in agricultural soils, compost and digested sludge. Sample treatment was based on ultrasound-assisted extraction and extract clean-up by dispersive solid-phase extraction. Analytical determination was carried out by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry using a chiral column. Enantiomeric resolutions were in the range from 0.71 to 1.36. Accuracy was in the range from 85 to 127% and precision, expressed as relative standard deviation, was lower than 17% for all the compounds. Method quantification limits were below 1.21–52.9 ng g−1 dry weight (dw) in soil, 0.76–35.8 ng g−1 dw in compost and 13.6–90.3 ng g−1 dw in digested sludge. Application to real samples revealed enantiomeric enrichment in the range especially in compost and digested sludge (enantiomeric fractions up to 1).