Determination of nine bisphenol-diglycidyl ethers in human breast milk by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Since the widespread use, and the mutagenicity and teratogenicity observed in vitro studies, bisphenol-diglycidyl ethers (BDGEs) were suspected to pose health risks to humans, especially to infants. Quantifying exposure of BDGEs from breast milk is essential in assessing the potential health risks of these ubiquitous compounds to infants. However, there is no reported analytical method for the determination of BDGEs in breast milk. In this context, we developed a rapid and sensitive method based on an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) to measure nine BDGEs in breast milk. The analytes were extracted with acetonitrile and fat was removed by freezing under -20°C. The extracts were further purified by PRiME HLB solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) for the analytes were 0.033-0.500 μg L-1 and 0.10-1.50 μg L-1, respectively. The recoveries of BDGEs were ranged from 71.30% to 114.30%. Good method reproducibil...