Simultaneous determination of 9 environmental pollutants including bisphenol A in vegetable oil by solid phase extraction-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

In this study, a high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method with solid phase extraction was established for the simultaneous determination of bisphenol A, bisphenol F, bisphenol S, 4-nonylphenol, n-nonylphenol, octylphenol, n-octylphenol, perfluorooctane sulfonate acid and perfluorooctanoic acid in vegetable oil. The sample was extracted with ammonia acetonitrile solution (1 : 9, V/V) by ultrasonication. And the obtained extract was purified by using a PRIME HLB solid phase extraction column. The identification and quantification of the compounds was performed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The internal standard method was used for quantitative analysis. Under optimal experimental conditions, the limits of quantitation of bisphenol A, bisphenol F, bisphenol S, 4-nonylphenol, n-nonylphenol, octylphenol and n-octylphenol in vegetable oil were 1.0 mu g kg(-1). The limits of quantitation of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid in vegetable oil were 0.1 mu g kg(-1). The average spiked recoveries of the method were in the range of 89.2-117.1% with the relative standard deviations (RSD) of 2.9-9.8% (n = 6). This method is sensitive, versatile and reproducible, and is suitable for the simultaneous determination of bisphenol A, bisphenol F, bisphenol S, 4-nonylphenol, n-nonylphenol, octylphenol, n-octylphenol, perfluorooctane sulfonate acid and perfluorooctanoic acid in vegetable oil.

Automated summary

A sensitive and versatile HPLC-MS/MS method with solid phase extraction was established for the simultaneous determination of various harmful compounds in vegetable oil, showing good reproducibility.