Determination of primary aromatic amines in water food simulant using solid-phase analytical derivatization followed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry

Solid phase analytical derivatization with trifluoroacetic anhydride has been introduced as sample preparation for the determination of primary aromatic amines in water by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Water was used as a food simulant for testing migration from laminated flexible food packaging materials. The method was evaluated for 8 primary aromatic amines in 200 ml water samples, which resulted in detection limits in the 0.1-0.4 microg/l range, relative standard deviations in the 4-17% range and acceptable linearity (R2 = 0.997-1.000). Detectable levels of 2,4-diaminotoluene, 2,6-diaminotoluene and 4,4'-methylenedianiline were found in water food simulant from some of the investigated food packaging materials.