Determination of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, novolac glycidyl ether and their derivatives migrated from can coatings into foodstuff by UPLC-MS/MS

Abstract

A rapid and sensitive ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization in the positive mode (UPLC-(ESI) MS/MS) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 16 bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE), novolac glycidyl ether (NOGE) and related compounds in canned foods. Three non-commercially available standards bisphenol F (2, 3-dihydroxypropyl) glycidyl ether (BFDGE·H2O), bisphenol F (3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) glycidyl ether (BFDGE·HCl) and bisphenol F (3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) (2,3-dihydroxypropyl) ether (BFDGE·H2O·HCl) were synthesized and used for qualitative analysis. Quantification of 13 analytes was carried out in multiple reaction monitoring mode using an external calibration, and the interference of matrixes was reduced by the matrix-matched calibration. The parameters of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry were optimized to obtain maximum selectivity and sensitivity. The validation data obtained from oil-based and aqueous-based canned food matrixes showed low limit of detection, which ranged from 0.24 to 1.84 ng g−1, acceptable recovery (62.36–101.77 %) and good repeatability (RSD <10), all indicated this optimized method was suitable for the migration evaluation of BADGE, NOGE and their derivatives from can lacquer into food. Finally, this method was applied to the analysis of these compounds at low levels in diverse commercial canned samples.