Determination of Bisphenol A, Tetrabromobisphenol A and 4-Tert-Octylphenol in Children and Adults Urine Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A method of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for quantitative determination of bisphenol A (BPA), tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and 4-Tert-Octylphenol (OP) in urine of children and adults was developed. The frozen urinary samples were unfrozen at room temperature, then extracted by liquid-liquid extraction, evaporated to dryness, and dissolved by methanol so as to be analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The calibration curves for the determination of the three target compounds were linear in the concentration range of 0.2–50 μg L−1 with the correlation coefficients (R) greater than 0.99. The quantitative limits (LOQ) for the three target compounds were 0.05–0.27 μg L−1. The recoveries of different levels (5, 10 and 50 μg L−1) were in the range of 85.7%–118.6% and the relative standard deviations (RSD) are 4.1%–10.5% (n = 3). This method was successfully applied to the determination of BPA, TBBPA and OP in urine samples from 20 groups of children and adults. The results showed that exposure concentrations of TBBPA and OP in urines sample of children and adults were basically same, but exposure levels of BPA had significant difference (children > adults).

The method of LC-MS/MS combined with enzymatic hydrolysis, liquid-liquid extraction was developed for analysis of typical endocrine disruptors (BPA, TBBPA and OP) in children and adults urine, and it was found that the exposure concentrations of TBBPA and OP in urines sample of children and adults were basically same, but the concentration of BPA in children urine was generally higher than that of adults.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide