Determination of Bisphenol A in Receipts and Carbon Paper by HPLC-UV

Bisphenol A monitoring during anaerobic degradation of papers with thermochromic prints in soil

Pseudoestrogene bisphenol A (BPA) can be important ingredient of thermochromic inks, increasingly used materials in thermal printing paper, security printing, advertising, design and as temperature indicators in medicine and food industry. BPA mass fraction in thermochromic inks can be up to several percent. Hence, disposal of items with thermochromic prints pose a risk of environmental pollution. In this work BPA mass fraction was monitored during anaerobic degradation of papers with thermochromic prints in soil in both matrices: papers and soil. The degradation conditions simulated deeper layers of waste at a landfill site. Six types of papers with prints of thermochromic ink containing 2% of BPA were subjected to anaerobic degradation over up to 150 days. Initial mass fractions of BPA in papers decreased form (126-460) μg/g to (<QL - 45) μg/g after 150 days. BPA amounts were reduced 10 to 50 times depending on the paper type: least for synthetic paper and most for wood-free coated. For soil analysis new HPLC-UV method was developed and validated. The method was linear from 0.75 ng/g to 0.6 μg/g of BPA in soil with correlation coefficient of 0.9994. Method precision was 4.4%, accuracy 83% and detection limit 0.9 ng/g. Expectedly, amount of BPA in soil was increasing during the experiment. Mass fractions of BPA in soil were from not detected in earlier stage of degradation to (4.9-23.2) ng/g after 150 days. Final BPA amounts in soil were similar to those found in industrial, urban and agricultural soils worldwide. Hence, BPA from papers with thermochromic prints was notably decomposed, and contaminated soil had the capacity to absorb and decompose BPA even under anaerobic conditions. After 150 days of anaerobic degradation, only up to 1.86% of BPA contained in paper prints was found in soil, whilst, on average, 4% of initial BPA remained in paper.

Silica Hydride: A Separation Material Every Analyst Should Know About

This review describes the development, special features and applications of silica hydride-based stationary phases for HPLC. The unique surface of this material is in contrast to ordinary, standard silica, which is the material most frequently used in modern HPLC stationary phases. The standard silica surface contains mainly silanol (Si-OH) groups, while the silica hydride surface is instead composed of silicon-hydrogen groups, which is much more stable, less reactive and delivers different chromatographic and chemical characteristics. Other aspects of this material are described for each of the different bonded moieties available commercially. Some applications for each of these column types are also presented as well as a generic model for method development on silica hydride-based stationary phases.

Application of the electropolymerized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) sorbent for solid-phase microextraction of bisphenols

A new, simple, and effective procedure using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/lignosulfonate electropolymerized sorbent solid-phase microextraction (PEDOT/LS-SPME) combined with LC-MS/MS for determination of bisphenols in environmental water samples was developed. Various parameters influencing the performance of the analytical procedure including the type of sorbent, electropolymerization time, sorbent preconditioning time, extraction time, desorption (time and solvent), and sample pH were investigated and optimized. Under optimal conditions the proposed method allowed us to achieve good precision (n = 5) between 6.0 and 12.1%. The limits of detection were equal to 0.17 μg L-1 for BPA, 0.16 μg L-1 for BPF, 0.07 μg L-1 for BPE, 0.05 μg L-1 for BPB, and 0.027 μg L-1 for BPAF. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of bisphenols in aqueous environmental samples.

The presence of bisphenol A in the thermal paper in the face of changing European regulations - A comparative global research

Bisphenol A (BPA) is used as a color developer in a thermal paper that after a heating process reacts with a leuco dye and changes it to a colored form. Receipts from cash registers are considered as the main source of consumer exposure to bisphenols together with polycarbonates and epoxy resins. Levels of BPA and its possible alternatives were determined in thermal paper samples collected between May 2018 and May 2019 in 22 European and 17 non-European countries on all inhabited continents (220 samples in total, 133 of which were from Europe and 87 from other countries). These measurements were intended to check the level of BPA presence in receipts originating from different countries, especially from Europe in the light of changing regulations restricting its use. The effect of thermal printing on developer content was also analyzed, but no major changes in concentrations of bisphenols were observed during the process. Thus, printed receipts could be used for the determination of bisphenol content. Analysis of receipts from 39 countries has shown that BPA is still the most common compound used around the world with 69% samples containing this color developer. Among other tested bisphenols, BPS was used as a color developer in 20% samples, but it was noted that all samples collected from Japan and the United States of America were found to contain only BPS. Other bisphenols (F, AF, E, and B) considered as possible alternatives for BPA were detected only at trace levels or not detected at all, which showed that they were not used as color developers. The relatively large use of BPS as a BPA substitute is worrying because this compound not only has similar endocrine properties but is also poorly biodegradable. Besides, its relatively high polarity facilitates spreading in the environment.

Simultaneous determination of 17 bisphenols in polycarbonate by ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A novel method was developed for the first time for the determination of 17 bisphenols by ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Under the optimal conditions, 17 bisphenols were separated successfully on a high density diol column in 9 min using methanol and carbon dioxide as mobile phase. 0.02% ammonium hydroxide/methanol v/v was used as the post-column compensation solvent to improve response of mass spectrometry. Linear relations of matrix-matched calibration curve were favorable over the selected concentration range of 1-100 μg/kg with correlation coefficients greater than 0.9981. The method limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 0.1-0.5 μg/kg and 0.5-2.5 μg/kg, respectively. The average recoveries at three spiked levels in polycarbonate were in the range of 81.8-114.5%. Intra-day and inter-day precisions for six replicates were below 15.0%. This method was successfully applied to determine bisphenols in polycarbonate.

The Development of Silica Hydride Stationary Phases for High-Performance Liquid Chromatography from Conception to Commercialization

The development of a stationary phase material for high-performance liquid chromatography based on a surface of silica hydride as opposed to silanols on ordinary silica is discussed including synthetic approaches, characterization, and applications. There are several synthetic approaches available to create a silica hydride surface. Modification of the Si–H moiety on the silica surface can be accomplished through the use of a hydrosilation reaction. Both the intermediate silica hydride and the material modified with an organic moiety can be characterized by a number of spectroscopic as well as a variety of other methods. Further insights into the retention mechanism are provided through chromatographic measurements. The ultimate utility of any chromatographic stationary phase material is determined by its success in solving challenging analytical problems. A broad range of applications is reviewed to illustrate the versatility and usefulness of silica hydride-based stationary phases.

Colorimetric detection of bisphenol A based on unmodified aptamer and cationic polymer aggregated gold nanoparticles

In this study, a colorimetric method was exploited to detect bisphenol A (BPA) based on BPA-specific aptamer and cationic polymer-induced aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The principle of this assay is very classical. The aggregation of AuNPs was induced by the concentration of cationic polymer, which is controlled by specific recognition of aptamer with BPA and the reaction of aptamer and cationic polymer forming "duplex" structure. This method enables colorimetric detection of BPA with selectivity and a detection limit of 1.50 nM. In addition, this colorimetric method was successfully used to determine spiked BPA in tap water and river water samples.

Azo dye functionalized graphene nanoplatelets for selective detection of bisphenol A and hydrogen peroxide

A new electrochemical sensor is developed based on graphene nanoplatelets functionalized with tri-azo dye (direct blue 71) for selective and highly sensitive detection of bisphenol A and hydrogen peroxide in pH 7 phosphate buffered saline solution.