Determination of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) and its derivatives in food: identification and quantification by internal standard

Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) and its reaction products with water and hydrochloric acid have recently been subject to new regulations concerning their migration from food packaging into foodstuff. A method for the simultaneous identification and quantification of these substances and their precursor bisphenol A in food is described introducing bisphenol A di-(3-hydroxypropyl)ether as an internal standard. Analysis was carried out using RP-HPLC gradient elution with fluorescence detection. Additional information in the case of suspect samples was obtained using RP-HPLC with mass selective detection. The described method is validated for the analysis of foodstuffs as well as fatty food simulants. The limits of detection were between 10 and 30 µg/kg of food; recovery experiments gave identical behaviour for all analytes and the internal standard. The enforcement of the specific migration limit set by regulatory standards of the European Union for BADGE and its hydrolysis and hydrochlorination products is possible for producers as well as food quality surveillance institutions.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]