Type A-trichothecenes — Quantitative analysis using LC-MS and occurrence in Austrian maize and oats

During this study a method was developed for the quantitative determination of diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin using deuterated T-2 toxin (T-2 d3 toxin) as an internal standard. The described method involves a clean up step of maize extract by the use of Mycosep® 227 columns a chromatographic separation on a Zorbax® bonus-RP-column (2,1×150mm) and the detection and quantification step on a mass spectrometer in SIM (Selected Ion Monitoring) mode. Data on the occurrence of three type A trichothecenes in Austrian maize, maize silage and oats were collected. It could be shown that maize and silage samples harvested in 2002 were only contaminated to a small extent with T-2 toxin (8% of the maize, 0% of the silage) and with HT-2 toxin (30% of the maize, 18% of the silage). But most of the analysed oats samples showed significant levels of T-2 toxin (64%) or HT-2 toxin (82%).