Rapid and green determination of 58 fragrance allergens in plush toys

Abstract

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 μL) 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°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.

Consumer protection and risk assessment: sensitising substances in consumer products

“…As analysis is a prerequisite for the characterisation and identification of potentially sensitising individual substances, it is of great importance to encourage the further development of analytical methods. It is possible, for example, to identify as many as 58 potentially sensitising substances in soft toys using a new mass spectrometric method [64]. The goal here is to establish a link to the allergologically relevant substances.…”

Rapid analysis of fragrance allergens by dielectric barrier discharge ionization mass spectrometry

“…Thus, DBDI has a satisfactory linear dynamic range, high accuracy and sensitivity, and can be used for the rapid and sensitive detection of fragrance allergens in perfume products without any sample pretreatment. In addition, when compared with GC/MS, DBDI has 2–4 orders of magnitude lower LOD and 2–3 orders of magnitude lower LOQ when analyzing these seven fragrance allergens 20–22 . Using DBDI, it only takes a few minutes to analyze a sample, i.e., the analysis time is significantly shorter than for any of the conventional methods to detect and quantify fragrance allergens 2,7,8,21 …”

Determination of Droplet-Bound and Free Gas-Phase Fragrances Using a Filter-Incorporated Needle-Trap Device and Solid-Phase Microextraction Technologies

“…All of these challenges highlight the need for a sample-preparation step that not only simplifies sample introduction but also improves sensitivity by preconcentrating compounds on the extraction phase. Researchers have utilized a variety of different methods to determine fragrances, aroma, and flavors in different samples, including matrix stir-bar sorptive extraction, solid-phase dispersion, liquid–liquid extraction, , ultrasound-assisted solvent extraction, , chemiluminescence, ultrasound-assisted emulsification, and magnetic solid-phase extraction; nevertheless, all of these studies employed concentration in the free gas phase , or the concentration of polar analytes in a solution, thus failing to capture the total exposed concentration of fragrances in the examined aerosol products.…”