Binding mechanism and safety assessment of BADGE from epoxy-coated cans and protein

Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE) from the epoxy coating can migrate to food and react with the protein, but the safety of these adducts formed is unknown, besides, after being consumed in large quantities, BADGE may also combine with other proteins supplemented, posing a potential hazard to human health. The binding mechanism and the possible binding products of BADGE and protein were explored by a series of liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods. Results showed BADGE can modify a variety of amino acid residues with two modification modes, of which the largest number of modifications were cysteine (Cys) and lysine (Lys). Some adducts formed had shown potential toxicity by in-silico toxicity evaluation and needed to be concerned, which provided a new perspective on the safety of epoxy coating. The molecular docking simulation revealed that hydrophobicity and hydrogen bond interactions are the main intermolecular forces in complex formation.