Validation of a LC-MS-MS method for anabolic steroids in nutritional supplements

Simona Martello (1) , Marialinda Felli (2) , Marcello Chiarotti (2)

1 Istituto medicina legale
2 Istituto Medicina legale

The use of nutritional supplements is widespread among sportsmen. Several studies highlight that these products may contain undeclared substances that are banned by the International Olympic Committee/World Anti-Doping Agency, and that are associated with significant health hazards, i.e. anabolic androgenic steroids. This study describes a qualitative LC-MS-MS method with a methanol-water gradient including 0.03% acetic acid. LC/MS/MS exhibited high sensitivity and specificty for anabolic androgenic steroids detection. Each supplement has been analysed in GC/MS to detect the presence of ephedrine too. The method developed has been applied to 64 nutritional supplements. 12.5% of the nutritonal supplements analysed contained banned substances not declared on the label.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Simona Martello, Marialinda Felli, Marcello Chiarotti. Validation of a LC-MS-MS method for anabolic steroids in nutritional supplements. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2007, 24 (03), pp.258-265. ⟨10.1080/02652030601013729⟩. ⟨hal-00577278⟩