2026-10-14T03:00:28Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34018119 2026-09-28T18:04:23Z category_1 category_4 category_146 category_12 category_873 category_39 category_734 portal_63 item_type_6 month_year_09_2026

Rapid Simultaneous Quantification of Four Typical Phthalate Esters in Complex Food Matrices via Thermal Desorption–Dielectric Barrier Discharge Ionization Mass Spectrometry Qisen Huang (8931359) Weipeng Cai (25132932) Xiaokang Guan (11608402) Chencheng Wei (21664790) Shuxian Liu (5105021) Xiaowen Yan (1820854) Renato Zenobi (248557) Biophysics Biochemistry Space Science Cell Biology Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified thermal desorption unit severe matrix interferences robust method provides relative standard deviations quantifying phthalate esters pae migration levels order premade dishes measured pae concentrations improved signal stability contamination levels followed complex food matrices butyl benzyl phthalate 5 – 200 specific migration limits rapid simultaneous quantification plastic bag packaging eu regulation 10 four typical paes plastic bottle carton packaging 2016 regulation 10 seconds 10 %. sugary beverages spike recoveries significantly higher scale screening phase extraction novel approach gb 5009 every sample directly interfaced correlation coefficients conventional gc cleanup steps china ’ approximately 55 52 μg 106 %, Conventional analytical methods for detecting and quantifying phthalate esters (PAEs) in foods generally require lengthy sample pretreatment procedures and suffer from severe matrix interferences. To address these shortcomings, a fast analytical platform based on a thermal desorption unit that is directly interfaced with dielectric barrier discharge ionization mass spectrometry (TD-DBDI-MS) was developed. The integration of a heated nitrogen purge system effectively suppressed atmospheric background interference and improved signal stability. Moreover, a simplified liquid–liquid extraction pretreatment protocol was established that eliminates the need for centrifugation and solid-phase extraction (SPE) cleanup steps. The complete analysis cycle time per sample was reduced by approximately 55% compared to conventional GC-MS/LC-MS workflows, and each analysis by TD-DBDI-MS was completed in only 10 seconds. The method exhibited excellent linearity for four typical PAEs in the range of 0.5–200.0 μg/L with correlation coefficients (R²) > 0.998. The limits of detection (LOD) ranged from 0.11 to 0.52 μg/kg, spike recoveries were between 82% and 106%, and relative standard deviations (RSDs) were <10%. Application to 19 commercially available food samples revealed widespread PAE contamination, with butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) being detected in every sample. Contamination levels followed the order premade dishes > milk > sugary beverages. PAE migration levels from plastic bag packaging were significantly higher than those from plastic bottle and carton packaging. Fortunately, the measured PAE concentrations were all well below the specific migration limits (SMLs) specified in China’s GB 5009.271-2016 regulation and EU Regulation 10/2011. This rapid, efficient, and robust method provides a novel approach for large-scale screening of PAEs in complex food matrices. 2026-09-28T00:00:00Z Text Journal contribution 10.1021/jasms.6c00286.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Rapid_Simultaneous_Quantification_of_Four_Typical_Phthalate_Esters_in_Complex_Food_Matrices_via_Thermal_Desorption_Dielectric_Barrier_Discharge_Ionization_Mass_Spectrometry/34018119 CC BY-NC 4.0