Abstract
This work describes the development of an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method for the determination of 23 primary aromatic amines (PAAs) that can potentially migrate from food contact materials. The chromatographic separation was performed in a pentafluorophenylpropyl (PFPP) column achieving the separation of all PAAs in less than 6.5 min using water to acetonitrile (0.1% acetic acid in both solvents) as mobile phase and a gradient elution. The feasibility of atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) was evaluated as alternative to electrospray ionization (ESI) for the analysis of PAAs. Results showed that for most of the compounds, better responses were obtained with APCI, which shows the advantage of being less susceptible to matrix effects. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) fragmentation studies of [M + H]+ allowed for the selection of the two most characteristic and abundant product ions of the 23 PAAs which led to the development of a selective and sensitive UHPLC-APCI-MS/MS method with limits of detection ranging from 0.2 to 2 μg kg−1. Moreover, intra-day and inter-day precisions of the method in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD%) were lower than 10% and 15%, while trueness as relative error was <15% for most of the compounds. The UHPLC-APCI-MS/MS method was applied to the analysis of twenty black Nylon kitchenware samples that were submitted to migration tests using food simulant B (3% acetic acid, w/v), and the presence of PAAs were detected in eighteen samples at concentrations above the legislated limit (2 μg kg−1 of food or food simulants).Graphical abstract
Highlights
In recent years, the concern about the possible migration of components from food contact material (FCM) into food has increased considerably in the food safety field
To achieve the best UHPLC-API-MS performance, the chromatographic separation conditions should be compatible with the atmospheric pressure ionization technique
Ion suppression and ion enhancement of unresolved compounds (Rs < 1.5) was checked and the results showed that differences observed between the obtained responses from individual standard solutions and those observed when analyzing the standard mixture of primary aromatic amines (PAAs) were lower than 7% in all API sources tested, which indicated that ion suppression/enhancement could be considered negligible for these compounds
Summary
The concern about the possible migration of components from food contact material (FCM) into food has increased considerably in the food safety field. As far as we know, a pentafluorophenylpropyl (PFPP) column, which combines both hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions to retain analytes, has not yet been evaluated for the chromatographic separation of PAAs in migration studies from FCMs. Regarding the employed detection system, liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS) in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) acquisition mode is the technique of choice for the determination of PAAs at low concentration levels in food simulants and food samples. The present work aimed to develop a new ultra-highperformance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS) method for the determination of PAAs that can migrate from food contact materials For this purpose, the chromatographic behavior of PAAs with different stationary phases and avoiding the use of ion-pair reagents was evaluated.
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