Determination of the occurrence of and exposure to bisphenol A and its analogues in carbonated beverages and canned tuna using liquid chromatography − tandem mass spectrometry

Bisphenol A (BPA), a known endocrine disruptor, is commonly used in food containers and packaging. Recently, alternatives such as bisphenol AF (BPAF), bisphenol B (BPB), and bisphenol E (BPE) have been introduced to replace BPA. However, these substitutes have been reported to exhibit toxicity levels similar to BPA. In this study, we developed and validated a method for the analysis of trace bisphenols (BPA, BPAF, BPB, and BPE) in food using immunoaffinity column (IAC) clean-up. The method demonstrated satisfactory accuracy and precision. We applied this validated method to analyze 56 carbonated beverage samples and 30 canned tuna samples. In the carbonated beverages, average concentrations of BPA and BPAF were 0.4 and 0.2 μg kg^-1, respectively. In canned tuna, BPA and BPAF were found at average concentrations of 22.2 and 0.7 μg kg^-1, respectively, while BPB and BPE were not detected in any samples. Estimated exposure levels ranged from 0.13 to 0.18 ng kg bw^-1day^-1 in the general population and from 205.2 to 232.0 ng kg bw^-1day^-1 among consumers. The commercial IAC-based analytical method used in this study can contribute to the safety management of BPA, BPAF, BPB, and BPE.