MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, KLGHEI of Environment and Energy Chemistry, School of Chemistry, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
College of Economics and Management, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, Guangdong, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Nov 25;953:176031. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.176031. Epub 2024 Sep 3.
Assessment and control of emerging organic pollutants in food have become critical for global food safety and health. The European Union has set standards for certain emerging organic pollutants, such as phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in food. Because of being endocrine disruptors, PAEs are toxic and carcinogenic to humans. Release of PAEs from packaging materials poses a potential risk to human health and causes environmental pollution. In this study, a highly sensitive analytical method for the detection of PAE contents in tea beverages was established using hydroxyl-functionalized covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coating. Results indicate that functionalization with hydroxyl groups enhances the adsorption of PAEs. The proposed method exhibits a wide linear range (1-20,000 ng L), low limits of detection (> 0.048 ng L), and satisfactory recovery (72.8 %-127.3 %). To investigate the PAE contamination in beverages, contamination levels of six typical PAEs and their health impacts were surveyed across various brands/types/packaging materials of tea beverages sold in China. Results of the hazard quotient and hazard index approaches suggest no or extremely low health concerns regarding PAE levels. We observe that hydroxyl groups functionalized on COFs enhance the adsorption of PAEs. Moreover, an important outcome of this study is development of an efficient and sensitive direct detection method for PAEs in complex tea matrices, providing a reliable approach for the assessment of PAEs in other complex matrices.
评估和控制食品中新兴有机污染物已成为全球食品安全和健康的关键。欧盟已经为某些新兴有机污染物制定了标准，例如食品中的邻苯二甲酸酯（PAEs）。由于邻苯二甲酸酯是内分泌干扰物，对人类具有毒性和致癌性。包装材料中 PAEs 的释放对人类健康构成潜在风险，并导致环境污染。在这项研究中，使用羟基功能化的共价有机框架（COFs）作为固相微萃取（SPME）涂层，建立了一种用于检测茶饮料中 PAE 含量的高灵敏度分析方法。结果表明，羟基功能化增强了对 PAEs 的吸附。所提出的方法具有较宽的线性范围（1-20,000 ng L）、低检测限（>0.048 ng L）和令人满意的回收率（72.8%-127.3%）。为了研究饮料中的 PAE 污染，调查了中国市场上不同品牌/类型/包装材料的茶饮料中六种典型 PAEs 的污染水平及其对健康的影响。危害商和危害指数方法的结果表明，PAE 水平不会对健康造成危害或危害极小。我们观察到 COFs 上的羟基基团增强了对 PAEs 的吸附。此外，本研究的一个重要结果是开发了一种用于复杂茶基质中 PAEs 的高效灵敏直接检测方法，为评估其他复杂基质中的 PAEs 提供了可靠的方法。
