A rapid thin-layer chromatographic screening method for five sulfonamides in animal tissues.

A procedure is described for the detection of five sulfonamides in muscle and kidney of swine, chicken and cattle. The method consists of an extraction with dichloromethane, cleaning up of the extracts on a Sep-Pak silica disposable column, and analysis by thin-layer chromatography on a silica plate with chloroform/n-butanol as an eluent. The sulfonamides were visualized by spraying with a fluorescamine solution. In spiked tissues the presence of the sulfonamides at concentrations of 0.05 mg/kg and higher is easily demonstrated. Direct detection of sulfonamides in tissue extracts of kidneys and lean tissues under the same chromatographic conditions is also described. This method, in which the Sep-Pak cleaning up procedure is omitted, has been successfully applied to spiked swine and cattle kidneys, chicken liver and breast tissue.