Rapid analysis of the specific migration of seven terephthalates and benzoates from plastic food contact material and products by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection

Abstract

A method based on high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) detection was developed for the rapid analysis of the specific migration of seven terephthalates and benzoates (TPBAs) in seven food simulants (10% (v/v) ethanol, 3% (m/v, i. e. 3 g/100 mL) acetic acid, 4% (v/v) acetic acid, 20% (v/v) ethanol, 50% (v/v) ethanol, 95% (v/v) ethanol, or olive oil)). Detailed comparisons were made on the extraction or purification of the seven TPBAs in olive oil food simulants by solvents, QuEChERS dSPE EMR-Lipid technology, and Captiva EMR-Lipid technology. The seven TPBAs were separated completely within 17 min by gradient elution on a phenyl column using water and methanol as the mobile phase. The detection wavelength was set at 237 nm. The injection volume was 10 μL. The linearities of the seven TPBAs were good, with r≥0.9998 at 1-80 mg/L or 8-160 mg/kg in the seven food simulants. The average recoveries of the seven TPBAs were between 91.7% and 106%, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) between 0.1% and 3.1% (n=6). The limits of quantification were 0.2-8.1 mg/kg. This method is simple, with convenient pretreatments, good chromatographic separation and linear relationships, as well as satisfactory recoveries and RSDs. The method has been applied to detect the specific migration of the seven TPBAs in real samples.