Determining the trace-level photoinitiators in juices and milk from various types of packages in Taiwan by a micro-QuEChERS-based UPLC-MS/MS

Hsin-Chang Chen; Yu-Fang Huang; Chia-Sheng Hsieh; Yan-Jun Liu

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.132929

Determining the trace-level photoinitiators in juices and milk from various types of packages in Taiwan by a micro-QuEChERS-based UPLC-MS/MS

Food Chem. 2022 Sep 15:388:132929. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.132929. Epub 2022 Apr 9.

Authors

Hsin-Chang Chen¹, Yu-Fang Huang², Chia-Sheng Hsieh³, Yan-Jun Liu³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan; Institute of Food Safety and Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: hsinchang@thu.edu.tw.
² Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, National United University, Miaoli, Taiwan; Center for Chemical Hazards and Environmental Health Risk Research, National United University, Miaoli, Taiwan; Institute of Food Safety and Health Risk Assessment, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan; Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Institute of Food Safety and Health, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.

PMID: 35447581
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.132929

Abstract

The distribution of 16 photoinitiators (PIs)-benzophenone (BP) and its five derivatives, 4-methylbenzophenone (4-MBP), methyl-2-benzoylbenzoate (M2BB), 2-ethylhexyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate (EHDAB), and the other 7 PIs-in packaged juice and milk was assessed using an UPLC-MS/MS with micro-QuEChERS. The validated method demonstrated robust linearity (≥0.9908), LOQs (juice: 0.006-7.26 ng/mL; milk: 0.004-7.14 ng/mL), intra- and inter-day accuracy (93.1%-110.1% for juice and 66.8%-114.6% for milk with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of ≤16.8%), and matrix effect with RSDs of ≤14.8%. BP exceeded the LOQ in 100% of 136 packaged juice (14.22 ± 7.60 ng/mL) and 51 milk (8.45 ± 3.25 ng/mL) samples, and the quantitation rates for M2BB and EHDAB in packaged juice were 100%. Notably, the 4-MBP in both juice and milk was significantly related to the packaging material. The method has been successfully applied to evaluate the occurrence and distribution of PIs in packaged juice and milk.

Keywords: 4-Methylbenzophenone; Benzophenone; Micro-QuEChERS; UPLC–MS/MS; UniSpray ionization.

MeSH terms

Animals
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
Chromatography, Liquid / methods
Milk*
Taiwan
Tandem Mass Spectrometry*