Rapid gas-liquid chromatographic method for determination of sulfathiazole in swine feed

A gas-liquid chromatographic (GLC) method for determining residues of sulfathiazole (STZ) in swine feed has been developed. Feed is extracted first with acetone and then with ammonia-acetone. STZ is isolated from other feed extractives on a Sephadex LH-20 column with methanol-toluene. The sulfa residues are methylated with diazomethane, and the eluate is evaporated to dryness. A solution containing an internal standard of methyl sulfasymazine is used to dilute the sample before injection onto an OV-25 GLC column. The precision of the method was determined by assaying 10 sets of feed spiked at 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 ppm STZ. The mean recoveries and coefficients of variation were 90.2 (5.90), 89.5 (4.67), 87.4 (5.62), and 87.7% (4.29), respectively. The critical steps of the method, including the stability of STZ, were also determined.