Targeted and untargeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of honey samples for determination of migrants from plastic packages

Abstract

Plastic food packages usually contain additives which may migrate from the package into the food and then be ingested by the consumer, representing a risk for their health. In this study, targeted and untargeted analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) is proposed to monitor any contaminants of this type in honey. The application of dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) as a preconcentration technique allowed very low detection limits to be reached for all the substances. Fifteen target compounds, including styrene, phthalates, fatty acids, alkylphenols and bisphenol A, were quantified. Untargeted analyses were also carried out, allowing other migrants in the honey samples to be identified, such as two phthalates, four acids, three esters, one aldehyde, one hydrocarbon and two alkyl phenol compounds. The proposed method was seen to be a useful approach for the quantification and identification of potential migrants from plastics in challenging samples such as honey.