Determination of Oxytetracycline Residues in Matrixes from a Freshwater Recirculating Aquaculture System

This paper describes related procedures to determine the amount of oxytetracycline (OTC) present in trout tissue (muscle with skin attached), biofilter sand, sediment, and tank water from a recirculating aquaculture system. OTC was extracted from the matrixes by different techniques, depending on complexity of the matrix and desired OTC detection level in that matrix. Listed in order of increasing complexity, OTC was extracted from tank water by dilution with acidic buffer containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA); from biofilter sand by shaking with 0.1N HCl; from sediment by homogenization and shaking with buffer/EDTA; and from ground trout by homogenization and shaking with buffer/EDTA (twice), with further cleanup and concentration of the extract on a polymeric solid-phase extraction cartridge. The 4 procedures all used the same reversed-phase gradient chromatography on a polymeric column with UV detection at 350 nm. The lower limit of detection (estimated) and upper limit of validation for each of these 4 matrixes were 0.04–4.0 μg/g (ppm; trout), 0.03–20 ppm (biofilter sand), 1–6000 ppm (sediment), and 0.003–10 ppm (water). Recoveries ranged from 82 to 108%, with relative standard deviation <20% over the applicable concentration ranges. These procedures were used to monitor OTC residues resulting from medicated feed administered to rainbow trout in a recirculating aquaculture system.