[Screening of organophosphorus flame retardant residues in rice by QuEChERS-gas chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry]
- PMID: 37968821
- PMCID: PMC10654883
- DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1123.2023.08022
[Screening of organophosphorus flame retardant residues in rice by QuEChERS-gas chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry]
Abstract
Organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs) have emerged as good alternatives to brominated flame retardants, the use of which is globally restricted. In this study, a screening method based on QuEChERS-gas chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-Q-TOF/MS) was established for the determination of 21 OPFRs in rice. First, full scan (scanning range, m/z 50-450) was performed with a mixed standard solution of the 21 OPFRs (0.1 μg/g) by GC-Q-TOF/MS. The fragmentation pathways of these OPFRs were then investigated to explore their cleavage fragments, the interrelationships among fragments, and the possible cleavage modes of alkylated, chlorinated, and aromatic OPFRs. The retention times, isotopic abundance ratios, and molecular formulas of the characteristic fragments as well as the exact mass of the compounds were obtained to establish a mass spectral library of the OPFRs. Rice samples were extracted and purified by the QuEChERS method, and 0.5% formate acetonitrile solution was used as the extraction solvent; 4 g of magnesium sulfate, 1 g of sodium chloride, 0.5 g of disodium hydrogen citrate, and 1 g of sodium citrate as the extraction-salt combination; and 50 mg of primary secondary amine (PSA), 50 mg of octadecylsilane (C18), and 150 mg of magnesium sulfate as the purification materials. The chromatographic separation of the 21 OPFRs was completed within 16 min under optimized temperature program conditions on the DB-5MS UI column. The screening parameters were optimized, and a full scan of the samples was performed under the following conditions: number of characteristic fragment ions ≥2; accurate mass window=±2×10-5 (±20 ppm); retention time deviation=±0.2 min, and ion abundance deviation<20%. The developed method was applied to the screening 21 OPFRs in the samples. The results indicated that the matrix interference was greatly reduced by decreasing the extraction accurate mass window, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the analytes. The targets were extracted from the matrix interference and background noise using deconvolution software, which improved the match between the target compounds and the mass spectral library. The detection rates of alkyl and aromatic OPFRs increased by 22% and 25%, respectively, when the spiking level was increased from 2 to 10 ng/g. Among the chlorinated OPFRs, only tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) was not detected at a spiking level of 2 ng/g, indicating that chlorinated OPFRs could be identified even at low concentrations. The characteristic ions of the detected compounds matched those of the home-made mass spectral library well, indicating that the practical application of the home-made mass spectral library. The established screening method was applied in the determination of OPFRs in rice samples from different regions in China. A total of 11 OPFRs were detected, among which trimethyl phosphate (TMP), tri-iso-butyl phosphate (TiBP), and tris(3,5-dimethylphenyl) phosphate (T35DMPP) had the highest detection rates. These results indicate that these three OPFRs are widely used and can easily come into contact with rice samples through various routes. Differences in the types of OPFRs detected in the actual samples may be related to the types of OPFRs produced in local factories. OPFRs can be detected in rice samples by the developed GC-Q-TOF/MS screening method, which is helpful for the identification of OPFRs in complex matrix samples.
基于QuEChERS-气相色谱-四极杆飞行时间质谱(GC-Q-TOF/MS)建立了大米中21种有机磷阻燃剂(OPFRs)的筛查方法,并对不同地区大米样品中的OPFRs残留情况进行分析。首先对21种OPFRs混合标准溶液(含量为0.1 μg/g)进行GC-Q-TOF/MS全扫描(扫描范围m/z 50~450),之后对21种OPFRs的裂解机理进行研究,获得化合物的保留时间、同位素丰度比、特征碎片分子式以及精确质量数等信息,建立OPFRs的标准谱库;采用QuEChERS方法对大米样品进行提取和净化,选择DB-5MS UI色谱柱,在优化的升温程序条件下,21种OPFRs在16 min内可完成色谱分离;在特征碎片离子数量≥2、精确质量窗口为±2×10-5(±20 ppm)、保留时间偏差为±0.2 min、离子丰度偏差小于20%的条件下,利用解卷积软件对样品全扫描数据进行分析,实现了大米样品中21种OPFRs的筛查。结果表明,对于烷基类和芳香类OPFRs,将加标水平从2 ng/g提升至10 ng/g时,检出率可分别提升22%和25%;在2 ng/g的加标水平下,氯化类OPFRs中仅磷酸三(2-氯异丙基)酯(TCIPP)未被检出,说明该类OPFRs即使在低浓度情况下也相对容易被确认。采用所建立的分析方法对不同地区的实际大米样品进行测定,共检出11种OPFRs,其中磷酸三甲酯(TMP)、磷酸三(异丁基)酯(TiBP)、磷酸三(3,5-二甲基苯基)酯(T35DMPP)的检出率最高,且不同地区大米样品中的OPFRs种类存在一定差异。本方法利用GC-Q-TOF/MS技术实现了大米样品中OPFRs的鉴定,为复杂基质样品中OPFRs的准确筛查提供了参考。
Keywords: QuEChERS; gas chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-Q-TOF/MS); organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs); rice; screening database.
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