Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Medical University of Gdańsk, J. Hallera 107, Gdańsk 80-416, Poland.
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, G. Narutowicza 11/12, Gdańsk 80-233, Poland; BioTechMed Center, Research Centre, Gdańsk University of Technology, G. Narutowicza St. 11/12, Gdańsk 80-233, Poland.
J Chromatogr A. 2023 Jun 7;1698:463981. doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2023.463981. Epub 2023 Apr 7.
In this paper we demonstrate the development of the extraction procedure of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from baby diapers along with their quantification by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Apart from covering plastic foil, disposable baby diapers contain sorbents intended to absorb urine and feces. A hygroscopic, adsorptive, and tough-to-homogenize fibrous sorbent, represents an analytical challenge to analytical chemists. To address this issue we optimized and validated a novel extraction protocol including cryogenic homogenization, liquid-liquid extraction and further preconcentration by evaporation. By using deuterated internal standards in conjunction with matrix-matched calibration, high precision and accuracy were achieved. The limit of detection is estimated in the range of 0.041-0.221 ng/g (for fluorene and fluoranthene, respectively), which is far below the concentration currently assumed to be dangerous for children. The method was successfully applied to real samples available on the Polish market, and it was found that the amount of PAH compounds varies between manufacturers. Most diapers do not have all 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in their composition, but there is no diaper that is free of these compounds. The most abundant in diapers was acenaphthalene, where the concentration ranged from 1.6 ng/g diaper up to 362.4 ng/g. The lowest concentration in diapers is chrysene, which is not detected in most diapers. The article is a response to the lack of a harmonized analytical method for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in disposable sanitary products for children.
本文展示了从婴儿尿布中提取多环芳烃的方法开发，以及采用气相色谱-质谱法对其进行定量的过程。除了覆盖塑料薄膜外，一次性婴儿尿布还包含吸收尿液和粪便的吸附剂。吸湿、吸附且难以均质化的纤维状吸附剂对分析化学家构成了分析挑战。为了解决这个问题，我们优化并验证了一种新的提取方案，包括低温匀浆、液液萃取以及进一步通过蒸发进行浓缩。通过使用氘代内标物结合基质匹配校准，可以实现高精度和高准确度。检测限估计在 0.041-0.221ng/g 范围内（分别对应芴和荧蒽），远低于目前认为对儿童有危险的浓度。该方法成功应用于波兰市场上现有的实际样品，发现不同制造商生产的尿布中多环芳烃化合物的含量存在差异。大多数尿布的成分中并不包含所有 15 种多环芳烃，但也没有完全不含这些化合物的尿布。尿布中含量最丰富的是苊，其浓度范围从每片尿布 1.6ng/g 到 362.4ng/g。尿布中含量最低的是屈，大多数尿布中都未检出。本文是对缺乏针对儿童一次性卫生用品中多环芳烃的统一分析方法的回应。
