Rapid Determination of Bisphenols in Fruits and Vegetables by QuEChERS-Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A method for rapid determination of eight kinds of BPs in fruits and vegetables based on QuEChERS combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLCMS/ MS) was developed. The effects of matrix effect (ME) and extraction recovery (RE) on process efficiency (PE) were discussed. Approximately 10. 00 g of homogeneous fruit and vegetable samples were accurately weighed, and 10 mL of acetonitrile and 1. 0 g of NaAC were added for extraction, respectively. And then, 2 mL of organic phase was taken into a 15-mL centrifuge tube, and the mixed purifier (33 mg PSA, 33 mg GCB and 10 mg C18) was added for purification. After centrifugation, 0. 5 mL of supernatant was added into 0. 5 mL of methanol aqueous solution (50% , V/ V), and the mixture was analyzed by UPLC-MS/ MS. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Waters BEH C18 (100 mm x 2. 1 mm, 1.7 mu m ) column using methanol and 0. 1 mmol/ L ammonium bicarbonate aqueous solution as mobile phase. Quantitative analysis was performed by isotope internal standard method in the modes of electrospray ionization, anion and multiple reaction monitoring. The results showed that the chromatographic separation of eight kinds of BPs could be completed within 8 min with good linearity and correlation coefficients (R-2>0. 9990). The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification ( LOQs) ranged from 0. 01 to 0. 10 mu g/ kg and 0. 03 to 0. 35 mu g/ kg, respectively. The average recoveries of eight kinds of BPs in different fruits and vegetables were 67. 2%-117. 8% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 0. 1%-8. 3% . This method was used to detect BPs in fruits and vegetables from Guangyuan city, and it bisphenol A and bisphenol S were found to be the main contaminants with the detection rates of 80. 0% and 47. 5% , respectively. The concentrations of bisphenol A and bisphenol S ranged from not detected to 31. 84 mu g/ kg and from not detected to 15.75 mu g/ kg, respectively. This method could rapidly extract, purify and quantitatively detect eight kinds of BPs in fruits and vegetables with the advantages such as simplicity, high sensitivity, low cost and environmental protection, and was suitable for daily mass screening and confirmation of these contaminants in fruits and vegetables.