Multi-residual approach for the determination of BPA and its substitutes in water and soft drinks

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a well-known endocrine-disrupting compound (EDC) whose use is regulated [1] and, in some cases, restricted [2] by the European Union. Due to these actions, manufacturers are switching to other substitutes, with a similar structure to BPA, to be used in different applications, such as bisphenol B (BPB), bisphenol F (BPF), bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol AF (BPAF), fluorene-9-bisphenol (BHPF), bisphenol Z (BPZ) and tetramethyl bisphenol F (TMBPF). However, several studies have demonstrated that all of them also exhibit endocrine-disrupting properties [3]. Within a regular diet, fluid intake is one of the most important factors for correct hydration and healthy state of the individual, being water and soft drinks the greatest contributors of fluids through the diet for the adult population [4]. Therefore, these drinks have special relevance in studies on estimating the intake of EDCs from food contact materials (FCMs) such as cans and plastic bottles. For all these reasons, it is necessary to develop analytical protocols that allow the multi-residue determination of BPA and its substitutes in water and soft drinks usually consumed by the general population. A fast and multi-residue method based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ) has been optimized and characterized in terms of linearity, precision and limit of detection and quantification. Besides, different solid-phase extraction (SPE) conditions have been tested to achieve the quantitative extraction of the eight-targeted bisphenols in water and soft drink samples. Acknowledgement: Authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Spanish State Research Agency (PID2019-106405GB-I00/AE/10.13039/501100011033) and the Comunidad of Madrid and European funding from FSE and FEDER programs (S2018/BAA-4393, AVANSECAL-II-CM) for financial support. C. Fernández-Ramos thanks Consejería de Educación e Investigación de la Comunidad de Madrid and FSE program for his grant (CAM19_PRE_IQOG_001). References: [1] Commission regulation (EU) No 10/2011 of 14 January 2011 on Plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. [2] Commission Directive 2011/8/EU of 28 January 2011 amending Directive 2002/72/EC as regards the restriction of use of Bisphenol A in plastic infant feeding bottles. [3] S.P. den Braver-Sewradj et al., Crit. Rev. Toxicol. 50 (2020). [4] I. Guelinckx, et al., Eur. J. Nutr. 54 Suppl (2) (2015).