Comparison between Different Extraction Methods for Determination of Primary Aromatic Amines in Food Simulant

Area of Science:

• Food Safety
• Analytical Chemistry
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Primary aromatic amines (PAAs) are food contaminants originating from polyurethane adhesives in flexible packaging.
• These PAAs, including toluenediamines (TDAs) and methylenedianilines (MDAs), can migrate into food and pose genotoxic, carcinogenic, and allergenic risks.
• Understanding their presence and developing effective detection methods is crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare different extraction methods for analyzing specific PAAs in food simulants.
• To determine the most effective extraction technique for polar PAAs like TDAs and MDAs.
• To optimize the detection of food contaminants originating from packaging materials.

Main Methods:

• Extraction methods evaluated: liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), and solid-phase extraction (SPE).
• SPE cartridges used: C18 ec, HR-P, and strong cationic exchange (SCX).
• Analysis performed using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) on samples spiked with selected PAAs in 3% acetic acid food simulant.

Main Results:

• The strong cationic exchange (SCX) cartridge demonstrated superior adsorption capabilities for polar PAAs.
• Recovery rates reached up to 91% using the SCX cartridge, indicating its high efficiency for TDAs and MDAs.
• The polar nature and water solubility of the target PAAs favored extraction with the SCX cartridge.

Conclusions:

• The SCX cartridge is the most effective method for extracting polar PAAs from food simulants.
• This finding supports the development of improved analytical methods for monitoring PAAs in food packaging.
• Effective extraction is key to accurately assessing the risk of these harmful food contaminants.