Determination of polydimethylsiloxanes by 1H-NMR in wine and edible oils

Fourier transform (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was suitable for the quantitative determination of polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS) in wine and edible oil samples. This approach offers highly specific qualitative and quantitative analysis due to silicone-specific location of proton signals linked to carbon atoms located directly next to silicon atoms (0-0.5 ppm), as well as a different location of signals in the range for different organosilicon structures. The method can be used for the control of PDMS at regulatory limits in foodstuffs (10 mg kg(-1)) using hexamethyldisiloxane (HDMS) as an internal standard. Samples were prepared by extraction under suitable conditions to separate the analyte, and with analyte enrichment before (1)H-NMR analysis. Analytical procedures were developed to permit the determination of PDMS at 0.06 mg kg(-1) in wine and at 6 mg kg(-1) in edible oils samples using readily available NMR instrumentation. It was, however, possible to lower the limit of detection to 6 microg kg(-1) for wine and to 60 microg kg(-1) for edible oils using a higher field instrument (500 MHz). Relative standard deviations (S(r)) were obtained for wine (0.028) and for oil samples (0.043), which when compared with values obtained for samples spiked with PDMS (0.021) indicated that the sample preparation was the main factor determining the precision of the method. The average recovery rates for PDMS were 97 and 95% for wine and edible oils, respectively. PDMS was detected in four brands of Italian wine, with Chianti-Rafaello containing the highest concentration (0.35 mg kg(-1)), and in four types of edible oils, highest concentration (11.9 mg kg(-1)) being found in Italian corn oil. None of the levels of PDMS found in the food samples exceeded the permissible standards laid down by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (10 mg kg(-1)), with the exception of the one corn oil sample.