Selective Accelerated Solvent Extraction for Multi-residue Analysis of Organophosphate Esters in Cereal-Based Baby Food

This paper reports an analytical method to simultaneously determine the level of organophosphate ester residues in different cereal-based baby foods. The samples were extracted with acidic acetonitrile and n-hexane, using mixed adsorbent (PSA:Florisil:alumina-B, 2:2:1, w/w/w) for clean-up during the extraction procedure. This method combines sample extraction and purification into one step, reducing preparation time. The target analytes were confirmed and quantified with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The limits of quantitation were 0.04–0.75 ng g −1 and the recovery rate was 73.2–107.0%. The proposed method was applied for the analysis of real samples obtained from domestic markets in China. It provides a new approach to detection of pollutants in complex food samples. Graphical abstract