Determination of ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol in food by triple quadrupole GCMS/MS, combined with QuEChERS extraction

In this study, ethylene oxide (EO), a fumigant for agricultural products, and its metabolite (2-chloroethanol, 2-CE), were extracted by QuEChERS method, and then quantified by GC-MS/MS system. Samples were extracted with acetonitrile, and cleaned up with a mixture of dispersive solid phase extraction (d-SPE), including MgSO4, PSA, C18 and GCB, within less than 20 min. The method has been validated on spices, oils, noodle, and food packaging. The results show that this method was high accuracy and precision at spike concentrations, with recovery ranged from 80 to 120%, and RSD lower than 20%. The limit of quantification was 0.01 mg/kg for both compounds, meeting the European (EU) maximum residue limit (MRL) at 0.01 mg/kg. This method has been applied to control the production of instant noodles, with 125 samples of ingredients (seasoning, dried vegetables, oil, flour, food packaging), instant noodles and other food. Among them, 13 ingredients detected 2-CE, and 1 spice detected both compounds, accounting for 11.2%. All 14 samples exceeded the EU MRL.