Simultaneous determination of four organotins in food packaging by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

• An HPLC–MS/MS method is developed to detect organotins in plastic food packaging.
• The method allows for simultaneous detection for 4 organotins in plastic packaging.
• The sample preparation method was established for analysis of OTs in food packaging.
• The proposed analytical method is efficient, rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective.

A simple method based on high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) was developed for the simultaneous determination of organotins—tri-n-butyltin chloride (TBT), triphenyltin chloride (TPT), dibutyltin dichloride (DBT), and diphenyltin dichloride (DPT)—in plastic food packaging. Samples were prepared by ultrasonic extraction with dichloromethane, followed by dissolution in acetonitrile containing 0.1% formic acid, and purification by an MCX column. The extracts were analyzed by LC–MS/MS in multiple reaction monitoring and positive modes with a C18 column; elution was carried out with a gradient of 0.1% formic acid and methanol containing 0.1% formic acid. The limits of detection for TBT, TPT, DBT, and DPT were 0.1, 0.6, 0.8, and 0.3 μg kg−1, respectively. The recovery of organotins in spiked samples ranged from 68% to 113% (relative standard deviation: 0.4–4.2%). The proposed method was successfully employed to identify the target analytes in plastic packaging used for milk and cake.