Determination of Dioxins and Dioxin-like Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Pork by Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

A gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) with stable isotope dilution (SID) method was established for the determination of dioxins (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in pork. The sample was extracted by Soxhlet extraction, defatted using acidified silica gel, and purified by sequential chromatography on a multi-layer silica gel column, an alkaline alumina column and an activated carbon column. PCDD/Fs- and DL-PCBs-rich fractions were collected separately, concentrated and redissolved for GC-MS/MS analysis. The influence of defatting method and fat content on the purification efficiency was investigated, and the blank contamination source of the system was discussed. The results showed that gel permeation chromatography (GPC) degreasing had a great influence on the recovery of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs, and acidified silica gel degreasing was more suitable for the analysis and detection of ultra-trace dioxins. The major blank pollution source of the dioxin detection system was the Soxhlet extractor. The recoveries for internal standard were 45.3%–122.4% with relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.0%–14.7%. The recoveries for the analytes were 64.9%–118.8% with RSD of 1.1%–14.7%. Both the linearity and limit of detection (LOD) met the requirements of the national standard of China GB 5009.205-2013. The proposed method is suitable for the determination of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs in actual pork samples.

Keywords

• gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; dioxins; dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls; pork