Recent advances in mass spectrometry analysis of phenolic endocrine disruptors and related compounds

Abstract

This article reviews recent literature on current methodologies based on chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry to analyze phenolic compounds with endocrine-disrupting capabilities. For this review we chose alkylphenol ethoxylates, bisphenol A, bisphenol F, and their degradation products and halogenated derivatives, which are considered important environmental contaminants. Additionally, some related compounds such as bisphenol diglycidylethers were included. Growing attention has been paid to the mass spectrometric characterization of these compounds and the instrumentation and strategies used for their quantification and confirmation. The current use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methodologies with different mass spectrometers and ionization and monitoring modes is discussed. Practical aspects with regards to the use of these analytical techniques, such as derivatizing reagents in GC-MS, ion suppression in LC-MS, and the most problematic aspects of quantification, are included in the discussion.

Food-Packaging Contaminants

“…49,52 Although GC is a good technique for the identification and quantification of plastic components, it may be necessary to derivatise phenolic compounds to improve GC-MS sensitivity. 71,72 Nerín et al 73 indicate that GC-MS is limited for some BPA derivates due to their low volatility. Other plastic compounds have been characterised using GC.…”

“…Avoiding this additional manipulation of the sample allows saving time and increases reproducibility. 71 Gallart-Ayala reviews the recent trends in LC-MS analysis of food packaging contaminants. 14 Bentayeb et al 75 used LC-MS to analyse terephthalic acid and ethylenglycol that were extracted from recycled PET samples and indicated disadvantages of LC-MS for identifying unknown compounds due to the lack of mass spectra libraries and its relatively limited sensitivity, especially compared to GC-MS.…”

Reusable electrochemical sensor for bisphenol A based on ionic liquid functionalized conducting polymer platform

“…There have been various assays introduced for BPA detection [8], such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry [9], liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry [10], gas chromatography-mass spectrometry [9,11], liquid chromatography-coulometric detection [12], liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection [13,14], liquid chromatography-UV detection [15], the fluorometric method [16,17], enzyme linked immunosorbent assays [18] and electrochemical sensors [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Among these techniques, electrochemical methods have shown promise due to the advantages of low cost of instrumentation, high sensitivity, high accuracy, a wide dynamic range, ease of operation, fast response time and portability [20][21][22].…”

Photo‐SRM: laser‐induced dissociation improves detection selectivity of selected reaction monitoring mode

“…The coupling between liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) has become the most popular technique for quantitative determination of chemical or biological compounds in complex matrices because of its superior specificity and sensitivity. The triple‐quadrupole mass spectrometer operating in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode is particularly considered a core technology to develop high‐throughput quantitative assay of pharmaceuticals in blood or urine during pharmacokinetic investigations, or of contaminants in environmental matrices . In SRM mode, quadrupole 1 filters only the protonated molecule of the target compound, which is then subjected to collision‐induced dissociation (CID), while quadrupole 3 concomitantly monitors one or more product ions.…”

“…The triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer operating in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode is particularly considered a core technology to develop high-throughput quantitative assay of pharmaceuticals in blood or urine during pharmacokinetic investigations, or of contaminants in environmental matrices. [1,2] In SRM mode, quadrupole 1 filters only the protonated molecule of the target compound, which is then subjected to collisioninduced dissociation (CID), while quadrupole 3 concomitantly monitors one or more product ions. The concomitant filtering of a given precursor ion and its specific product ion is called transition.…”