Bisphenol A analysis and quantification inconsistencies via HPLC-UV: a systematic review with technical notes

Bisphenol A is an organic compound utilized in the manufacture of plastics and resins that gained attention due to its environmental distribution and endocrine disrupting effects. Currently, bisphenol A is listed as toxic in most countries, it persists in waters, soils, and air around the world, hence the need for well-established methods for its detection. The aim of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of the existing open-access literature, examining the extent to which determination and quantification of bisphenol A was performed by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a UV detector (HPLC-UV), probably the most prevalent analytical-grade equipment in research facilities. We searched electronic bibliographic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science), including in our analysis 55 original open-access research articles that met our designated criteria from a total of 3665 records. The screening of articles revealed multiple approaches in bisphenol A detection and quantification via HPLC-UV; 47.27% of the open-access literature on this topic is dedicated to the development of new methods for purification, extraction or preconcentration of BPA from a large variety of samples. It was also observed that UV detectors were set to a variety of wavelengths that do not comply to the specific peaks of phenolic compounds. Therefore, the linearity of these wavelengths was questioned and a technical note comprising spectroscopic and HPLC-UV measurements of bisphenol A was provided, clarifying nonconformities. Results showed that most studies could maintain their reliability when different wavelengths are used, but a careful approach should be considered when referring to the spectrum ranges 200–205 and 296–300 nm (depending on the solvent used) because of peak shifts and linearity issues.