A modified QuEChERS method coupled with GC-MS/MS for the rapid and simultaneous analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and novel brominated flame retardant residues in animal-derived foods

Xiaojing Li; Rong Yang; Pingsheng Gan; Zhijun Bai; Rongfei Peng; Juntao Li; Jun Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2025.102649

A modified QuEChERS method coupled with GC-MS/MS for the rapid and simultaneous analysis of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and novel brominated flame retardant residues in animal-derived foods

Food Chem X. 2025 Jun 10:29:102649. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2025.102649. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Authors

Xiaojing Li^{1

2}, Rong Yang^{1

2}, Pingsheng Gan^{1

2}, Zhijun Bai^{1

2}, Rongfei Peng^{1

2}, Juntao Li^{1

2}, Jun Yuan^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Guangzhou Health Supervision Institute), Guangzhou 510440, China.
² Institute of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University & Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou 510440, China.

Abstract

A simple, rapid, and efficient method was developed for simultaneous determination of 14 PBDEs and 10 NBFRs in animal-derived foods, utilizing gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) coupled with the QuEChERS sample preparation technique. The QuEChERS and GC-MS/MS parameters were carefully optimized for optimal performance. Animal-derived samples were extracted using 10 mL of n-hexane-saturated acetonitrile: Water (1,1, v/v) and purified with novel Z-Sep + sorbent. The optimized method demonstrated excellent linearity, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.997. Recovery rates for the target analytes in fish, chicken, pork, and beef ranged from 67.6 % to 104.8 %. The limits of detection (LOD) ranged from 3.2 to 62.9 ng/kg, while the limits of quantification (LOQ) varied from 10.7 to 207.6 ng/kg. This method was successfully applied to analyze 227 animal-derived food samples from markets in Guangzhou, China. The results demonstrated that the method is both effective and straightforward for analysis of PBDEs and NBFRs in complex food samples.

Keywords: Animal-derived foods; GC–MS/MS; NBFRs; PBDEs; QuEChERS.