Analytical Separation of Carcinogenic and Genotoxic Alkenylbenzenes in Foods and Related Products (2010–2020)

Alkenylbenzenes are potentially toxic (genotoxic and carcinogenic) compounds present in plants such as basil, tarragon, anise star and lemongrass. These plants are found in various edible consumer products, e.g., popularly used to flavour food. Thus, there are concerns about the possible health consequences upon increased exposure to alkenylbenzenes especially due to food intake. It is therefore important to constantly monitor the amounts of alkenylbenzenes in our food chain. A major challenge in the determination of alkenylbenzenes in foods is the complexity of the sample matrices and the typically low amounts of alkenylbenzenes present. This review will therefore discuss the background and importance of analytical separation methods from papers reported from 2010 to 2020 for the determination of alkenylbenzenes in foods and related products. The separation techniques commonly used were gas and liquid chromatography (LC). The sample preparation techniques used in conjunction with the separation techniques were various variants of extraction (solvent extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, liquid-phase microextraction, solid phase extraction) and distillation (steam and hydro-). Detection was by flame ionisation and mass spectrometry (MS) in gas chromatography (GC) while in liquid chromatography was mainly by spectrophotometry.

An Online Solid Phase Extraction-Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for the Analysis of Parabens in Urban Waters

In this work, we report a method to quantify methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben in urban waters of São Carlos (São Paulo State, Brazil) by online solid phase extraction-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-MS/MS) system. The method achieved ng L-1 limits with good accuracy and precision (internal standards for each paraben were used). The total run cycle time takes 9.5 min per sample including the extraction, cleanup and columns conditioning cycles, lower collection volumes of urban water and solvent usage. The SPE cartridge applied showed robustness allowing over 500 sample injections (800 μL each) with good chromatographic performance. This study findings included the detection of parabens in samples in São Carlos.

Determining a wide range of and pesticides in poultry feathers using selective accelerated solvent extraction–liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

This study established a detection method based on accelerated solvent extraction–liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for determining residues of three amphenicols, eight macrolides, 18 sulfonamides, four nitroimidazoles, 15 insecticides, and 22 fungicides...