Postmortem distribution of thiamethoxam in biological fluids and solid tissues measured through liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry using the standard addition method
摘要
To our knowledge, no previous reports have described the postmortem distribution of thiamethoxam in fatal cases. This study aimed to quantify thiamethoxam in biological fluids and solid tissues from a suicide involving ingestion of Actara® insecticide (10% thiamethoxam) using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS).
MethodsBiological fluids and solid tissue homogenates were deproteinized with methanol. Thiamethoxam-d4 served as the internal standard. The standard addition method was used for quantification.
ResultsThiamethoxam was detected in all analyzed specimens, including 4 biological fluids, 11 solid tissues, and stomach contents. Thiamethoxam concentrations in each specimen, excluding the stomach contents, ranged from 2.5 to 53.6 µg/mL(g). The correlation coefficients (r2) for the calibration curves ranged from 0.9934 to 0.9996. Intraday and interday variability were < 8.9% and < 11.1%, respectively.
ConclusionsThiamethoxam was quantified in biological fluids and solid tissues obtained at autopsy using LC–MS/MS with standard addition. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed report on the postmortem distribution of thiamethoxam.