A facile molecularly imprinted column coupled to GC-MS/MS for sensitive and selective determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and study on their migration in takeaway meal boxes

Abstract

The analysis of toxic and harmful substances in food has attracted significant attention. In this work, a molecularly imprinted column coupled to gas chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry method (MIC-GC-MS/MS) method for the determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in takeaway meal boxes was established by comparing the extraction results of 16 PAHs with 5 different sample pretreatment techniques, and the effects of food types and storage conditions on the migration of PAHs was studied by migration test. The conditions of extraction and chromatography-mass spectrometry were optimized. The results showed that the linear ranges were in the wide range of 1–100 ng mL−1 for 16 PAHs, with the correlation coefficients (R) higher than 0.9983; the detection limits (LODs) and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were in the range of 0.08–0.42 μg kg−1 and 0.24–1.26 μg kg −1, respectively; the spiked recoveries at three levels of 10, 20, 30 μg kg−1 were in the range of 86.2%–107.7% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) less than 7.8%. Therefore, this method had high sensitivity and good reproducibility and was suitable for the determination of 16 PAHs in food contact materials. The migration test of PAHs showed that the migration amount of PAHs in takeaway meal boxes was closely related to food types, and the migration amount was positively correlated with contact temperature and contact time in a certain range.