Determination of ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol in pasta sauces by isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

ObjectiveTo establish a gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry （GC-MS/MS） method for the determination of ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol in pasta sauce.MethodsThe sample was extracted with acetonitrile， cleaned-up by QuEChERS purification agent C18/PSA/MgSO4 （10/10/60） mg/mL， and determined by GC-MS/MS in multiple reaction detection mode （MRM） and quantified by isotope internal standard curve.ResultsThe linear relationship between ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol was good in the concentration range of 10-100 μg/L with R2>0.99， the method limit of detection （LOD） was 0.02 mg/kg， and the limit of quantification （LOQ） was 0.05 mg/kg. The average recoveries of the samples at the three spiked concentration levels of 0.05， 0.10， 0.35 mg/kg were 87.79%-108.46%， and the relative standard deviations （RSDs） were 2.03%-11.79%. The intra-day and inter-day precision were 9.62%-10.09% and 9.40%-11.82%， respectively.ConclusionThe method is rapid in analysis， accurate and reliable， and can be used for the determination of ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol residues in pasta sauce.