Rapid and green determination of 58 fragrance allergens in plush toys

This paper presents a simple, rapid, and green method based on a static headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for determining 58 fragrance allergens in plush toys. This study is the first to meet the requirement for simultaneously determining 66 fragrances, except for eight natural extracts restricted by the European Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC. A minimal amount of sample (20 mg) and acetone solvent (20 mu L) were placed in a headspace vial. A gas-solid equilibration of fragrances between the headspace and the sample was achieved within 10 min under the vapor atmosphere of acetone at 200 degrees C, which allowed the fragrances in the sample to be measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results showed that the interference caused by different sample matrices was negligible. The proposed method exhibited determination results that were highly similar to those of traditional ultrasonic extraction with sufficient sensitivity (limits of quantification: 0.02-10 mg/kg) for 58 fragrances, indicating its accuracy and reliability. The average recoveries ranged from 71.3 to 137.4%, and the relative standard deviation (n = 6) varied from 1.1 to 18.0%. Finally, the method was applied to monitor the fragrances in 20 commercial toys. This study provides a good reference for rapidly and greenly determining the semi-volatile analytes in toys, textiles, and other products.