Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric analysis of acetyl tributyl citrate for migration testing of food contact materials

Acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC) is a potential replacement for phthalate plasticizers. It is widely used in various plastic products, particularly those that come into contact with food. The aim of this study is to develop a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for migration testing of ATBC on plastic products intended for contact with food. The migration testing samples were pretreated by liquid-liquid extraction with hexane and analyzed using LC-MS/MS. A C18 column was used for chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric analysis was performed in the positive ion detection mode using selected reaction monitoring (SRM); the SRM transitions were m/z 403.5 → m/z 185.2 for ATBC and m/z 361.4 → m/z 259.2 for tributyl citrate (internal standard). The method was validated in terms of specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, and recovery. The developed method was successfully applied to ATBC migration testing on 20 plastic tableware products with various food and saliva simulants.