Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in infant formula using solid state urea clathrate formation with gas chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry

Zoltán Nyiri; Márton Novák; Zsolt Bodai; Noémi Petrovics; Zsuzsanna Eke

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2017.05.065

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in infant formula using solid state urea clathrate formation with gas chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry

Talanta. 2017 Nov 1:174:214-220. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2017.05.065. Epub 2017 Jun 6.

Authors

Zoltán Nyiri¹, Márton Novák², Zsolt Bodai³, Noémi Petrovics⁴, Zsuzsanna Eke⁵

Affiliations

¹ Joint Research and Training Laboratory on Separation Techniques, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/A, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary. Electronic address: zoltan.nyiri@ekol.chem.elte.hu.
² Joint Research and Training Laboratory on Separation Techniques, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/A, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary. Electronic address: marton.novak@ekol.chem.elte.hu.
³ Joint Research and Training Laboratory on Separation Techniques, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/A, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary. Electronic address: zsolt.bodai@ekol.chem.elte.hu.
⁴ Joint Research and Training Laboratory on Separation Techniques, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/A, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary. Electronic address: noemi.petrovics@ekol.chem.elte.hu.
⁵ Joint Research and Training Laboratory on Separation Techniques, Institute of Chemistry, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter stny. 1/A, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary; Wessling International Research and Educational Center, Fóti út 56, H-1047 Budapest, Hungary. Electronic address: eke.zsuzsanna@wirec.eu.

PMID: 28738571
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2017.05.065

Abstract

An analytical method has been developed for the quantitative determination of the 16 EU priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in infant formula. Prior to analysis infant formula is subjected to sample preparation including the extraction of PAHs from the sample, transesterification of the triglyceride content of the extract to fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), and solid state urea clathrate formation to remove the FAMEs. Measurements were carried out with gas chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry. The developed method has been evaluated in terms of trueness, precision (repeatability), limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), selectivity, sensitivity and linearity. Measurement range of 200-1500ngkg^-1 was selected in accordance with the limit values set by the European Commission (835/2011/EC). LOD values were 75ngkg^-1 for dibenzo(a,e)pyrene, dibenzo(a,i)pyrene and dibenzo(a,h)pyrene while 50ngkg^-1 for the rest of the PAHs (benzo(c)fluorene, benzo(a)anthracene, cyclopenta(cd)pyrene, chrysene, 5-methylchrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(j)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, benzo(g,h,i)perylene, dibenzo(a,l)pyrene), LOQ was 200ngkg^-1 for all 16 PAHs. Trueness ranged between -29.7 and 29.8% while precision values were between 0.5 and 24.7% (RSD, n=3).

Keywords: Clathrate formation; Food analysis; Inclusion compound; Infant formula; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

MeSH terms

Esterification
Food Analysis / methods*
Food Contamination / analysis*
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Humans
Infant
Infant Formula / chemistry*
Limit of Detection
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / analysis*
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / isolation & purification
Reproducibility of Results
Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Urea / analogs & derivatives*
Urea / chemistry*

Substances

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Urea