Determination of 17 bisphenol compounds in human urine by solid supported liquid-liquid extraction-ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Bisphenol A （BPA） and its analogs are collectively termed bisphenol compounds （BPs）， which are predominantly utilized in the manufacturing of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. BPs are ubiquitous in diverse environmental matrices， human tissues， and metabolic products. Extensive research has demonstrated that BPs exert adverse effects on the nervous， reproductive， immune， and metabolic systems. After exposure in humans， BPs are primarily excreted in urine. Consequently， the development of efficient and robust analytical methods for BPs quantification in urine is essential for assessing population exposure levels. In this study， solid supported liquid-liquid extraction （SLE） was combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry （UHPLC-MS/MS） technology to establish a high-throughput determination method for 17 BPs in human urine. After enzymatic hydrolysis treatment of the samples， the steps of fully automatic SLE purification， nitrogen blowing concentration and redissolution were carried out successively. Separation was performed using a CAPCELL PAK ADME chromatography column （100 mm×2.1 mm， 2 μm）， and gradient elution was carried out with 0.05 mmol/L ammonium fluoride aqueous solution and 0.05 mmol/L ammonium fluoride methanol solution as the mobile phases. MS detection was carried out using the electrospray ionization （ESI） negative ion scanning mode under the multi-reaction monitoring （MRM） mode. Qualitative analysis was conducted based on retention time and ion abundance ratio， and quantitative analysis was performed using the internal standard method. Under the optimized conditions， 17 BPs can be effectively separated. The linear relationships of the 17 BPs within the corresponding mass concentration ranges were good， and the correlation coefficients （<i>r</i>） were ≥0.998 6， the limits of detection （LODs） and quantification （LOQ） were 0.002-0.489 μg/L and 0.005-0.986 μg/L， respectively. Children's mixed urine samples with low background content were selected as the matrix， and then spiked recovery tests were conducted at three spiked levels （low， medium and high）. The results showed that the recoveries of 17 BPs were 61.1%-121.7%， the intra-day RSDs were 1.3%-11.2%， and the inter-day RSDs were 3.7%-19.0%. This method was used to determine 50 random urine samples， and the results showed that a total of 11 BPs were detected. Among them， bisphenol S （BPS） and BPA had the highest detection rates， which were 98.0% and 86.0% respectively， and the median detection levels were 0.075 μg/L and 0.829 μg/L respectively. This method is simple to operate， sensitive and reliable. It is suitable for the rapid quantitative analysis of 17 BPs in human urine and can provide effective technical support for the risk assessment of BPs exposure in the population.