Determination of 7 nipagin esters in textiles by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry

A novel method has been developed for rapid separation and determination of 7 nipagin esters in textiles by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS) within 7 min.Nipagin esters residues in textiles were extracted by ultrasonic extraction with methanol.The extract was concentrated and redissolved in the mixed solvent of methanol and water(volume ratio of 1∶1).The chromatographic analysis was performed on an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column by a gradient elution employing methanol and water as a mobile phase.Electrospray ionization(ESI) was conducted in negative ion mode;detection was undertaken with multiple reaction monitoring(MRM);and external standard was used for quantitative determination.The calibration curves showed good linearity in the range of 0.1-1.0 μg/mL for all nipagin esters with the limits of determination(LOD) of 4-12 μg/kg.The recoveries of 7 nipagin esters at the spiked concentration levels of 0.5,1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg ranged from(76.09 ± 4.92)% to(106.65 ± 4.90)% with relative standard deviations(RSDs) of 4.60%-14.88%.