Abstract: A rapid determination method was developed for the quantification and confirmation of 22 carcinogenic aromatic amines derived from azo colorants in textiles and leather by ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The methods of EN 14362-1:2012 (for textiles) and ISO 17234-1:2010 (for leather) were adopted for sample pretreatment, finally diluted with methanol. The target compounds were separated by an Eclipse XDB-C18 RRHD column and eluted with methanol and water in gradient, and then determined by positive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry under multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The external standard method was used for the quantitative analysis. The separation conditions, fragment voltages, collision energies, etc. were optimized. The limits of quantification (LOQ) were below 0.2 mg/kg for different compounds, matrix spike recoveries ranged from 70% to 120% at the spiked levels of 500, 1000 and 1500 μg/L, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were less than 15%. The proposed method is rapid, sensitive, accurate and selective.

Key words: azo colorants, carcinogenic aromatic amines, leather, textiles, ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS)