Novel approach to the 'on-site' testing for sulfamethazine in pork carcasses

Rapid 'on-site' methods are required by the pork industry to screen for the presence of antibiotic residues in meat and meat products. There are few rapid and easy-to-use methods suitable for application in non-analytical laboratories. This paper describes a novel approach for the screening of sulfamethazine in pork muscle using matrix solid phase dispersion, a microcolumn preconcentration step and thin-layer chromatographic detection. The characteristics of the method are reported allowing for the detection of residues at the maximum residue limit of 100 ppb. Results from the industrial evaluation of the complete method are also presented.