Validation of multi-residue methods for the detection of anabolic steroidsby GC-MS in muscle tissues and urine samples from cattle

The use of anabolic steroids is prohibited in the European Community by Dir ective 96/22/EC and the control of compliance is regulated by Directive 96/ 23/EC. Multi-residue methods are necessary for screening for the use of for bidden substances. Because accreditation is gaining more and more importanc e, validation of the methods used and of the results obtained has become in dispensable. The developed CC-MS methods for the detection of anabolic ster oids in urine and muscle tissue were validated with regard to the following parameters: specificity, recovery at the 2 mu g kg(-1) level and limit of detection. For urine the recoveries ranged from 17 to 81% and for muscle ti ssue from 26 to 65%. The limit of detection ranged from 0.1 to 2.6 mu g kg( -1) for urine and from 0.3 to 3.6 mu g kg(-1) for muscle tissue. Specificit y was guaranteed in both matrices by the selection of four specific ions. B lank samples were evaluated for interferences and it could be concluded tha t in no case did the four selected ions appear simultaneously at the correc t retention time. The practicability of the criteria for low resolution mas s spectrometry set in Decision 93/256 in the low mu g kg(-1) range is also briefly discussed.