A comprehensive analytical method based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) has been developed for the simultaneous determination of 33 primary aromatic amines (PAAs) in polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene (PE) masterbatches for foods. The PS masterbatches were dissolved with dichloromethane, and methanol was added to precipitate after extraction by ultrasound extraction. Then the extract was purified by passing through a carbon graphite solid phase extraction column. The PE masterbatches were swelled and extracted with dichloromethane by ultrasound. The purified PS solution and PE extract were concentrated, and diluted to 2 mL with methanol-water (1:9, v/v), and filtered through the membranes of 0.22 μm before UPLC-MS/MS analysis. The analytes were separated on a BEH Phenyl column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm), eluted by gradient with 0.07% (v/v) formic acid in methanol-water (1:9, v/v). The PAAs were detected by UPLC-MS/MS under multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode and quantified by the internal standard method. The separation conditions, fragment voltages and collision energies were optimized. The impacts of extraction times, extraction solvents and concentration methods on recoveries were studied. The limits of detection for the 33 primary aromatic amines were 6-10 μg/kg, and the limits of quantitation were 20-30 μg/kg. The mean recoveries of the two different masterbatch products at three spiked levels of 20, 100, 200 μg/kg were 61.3%-119.8%, and the relative standard deviations were 1.4%-14.8%. The experimental results indicated that the method is simple, rapid, sensitive, accurate, and can meet the related requirements for determination.
