Development and Validation of a Modified QuEChERS Method for the Analysis of Bisphenols in Meats by UPLC-MS/MS

A reliable and affordable QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) methodology in combination with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was successfully developed and validated for the determination of eight bisphenols (BPs) residues containing in meats (chicken, duck, beef, pork, fish, shrimp, and mutton). A novel QuEChERS method optimization was carried out in terms of process efficiency (PE), matrix effect (ME), and extraction recovery (RE). After a simple vortex extraction of the samples with acetonitrile, 1 g sodium acetate was used for salting out (NaAC), and 100 mg primary secondary amine (PSA) purifying reagents were used for purification. The properties of the sorbents were assessed by the obtained parameters, such as matrix effect (ME), linearity, sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. Under the optimal conditions, BPs were well separated on an ACQUITY UPLC BEH (R) C-18 column in 8 min by gradient elution, and exhibited a good linear relationship (R-2 > 0.9988) in the linear range. Moreover, the limits of detection (LODs) and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were located in the range of 0.01- 0.11 mu g/kg and 0.03 - 0.37 mu g/kg, respectively. The developed method was satisfactory in terms of accuracy (relative recoveries: 76.1% - 113.7%) and precision (relative standard deviations below 10.3%). Finally, the developed method was successfully employed to identify and quantify BPs residues in 28 real meat samples. The proposed QuEChERS-UPLC-MS/MS method is simple, high efficiency, cost-effective, practical, and susceptible to being implemented in routine laboratories to quickly detect the BPs in meats (chicken, duck, beef, pork, fish, shrimp, and mutton). In this sense, the method is useful for obtaining BPs residue data to evaluate the contamination status of BPs in meat food and provide scientific support for scientific supervision.