Residual determination of Ceftiofur in Raw Bovine Milk by Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Mass Spectrometry

This report describes the determination of ceftiofur residues in milk from treatment of lactating dairy cattle by intramuscular injection of three consecutive daily doses of about 1 mg /kg BW, the recommended label dosing. The separation of ceftiofur was achieved on $C_1_8$ reverse phase column. The mobile phase consisted of 0.1% trifluoracetic acid in water (A) and 0.05% acetic acid in acetonitrile (B) and grediently flowed at the flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. As a result of analysis of blank raw bovine milk samples, matrix interference was not shown. Limit of detection and limit of quantitaion was 0.5 ng/mL and 1 ng/mL, respectively. The values of precision and recovery satisfied the guideline of National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS, Korea). The mean residual concentration of ceftiofur in milk did not exceed 3.71 ng/mL when ceftiofur was administered intramuscularly to lactating dairy cattle for 3 consecutive days at 1 mg/kg of BW per day. It is much lower than the proposed MRL (100 ng/mL) of ceftiofur in milk.