Nontargeted Screening for the Verification of Allergenic Ingredients and Perfume Authenticity by GC-ecTOF-MS
Sonja Klee1*, Steffen Bräkling1,2, Marleen Vetter 1, Stefan Bieber3, Thomas Letzel3
1 TOFWERK AG, Schorenstrasse 39, Thun/CH
2 Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Department, University of Wuppertal, Gaussstrasse 20, Wuppertal/D
3 Analytisches Forschungsinstitut für Non-Target Screening GmbH (AFIN-TS), Am Mittleren Moos 48, Augsburg/D
1 TOFWERK AG, Schorenstrasse 39, Thun/CH
2 Physical & Theoretical Chemistry Department, University of Wuppertal, Gaussstrasse 20, Wuppertal/D
3 Analytisches Forschungsinstitut für Non-Target Screening GmbH (AFIN-TS), Am Mittleren Moos 48, Augsburg/D
Published in LCGC North America, Volume 40, Number 9, September 2023
Introduction
This article describes the combination of EI- and CI-generated MS data used in nontargeted screening perfume analysis as highly effective for targeted, known unknown, and statistical feature data evaluation.
Fraudulent products are ubiquitous in all markets. Besides the financial aspect, a major issue of products adulteration for society and the environment is the missing regulation and control of these goods. Harmful and toxic compounds in fraudulent products therefore may become a risk for human health and the environment. Even small amounts of substances can still have effects and therefore a sensitive and reliable identification of compounds is required. Novel technologies are needed to identify and prevent fraud and related risks.
Goods from the food, flavor, and fragrance markets often contain volatile organic compounds which include most allergenic fragrances. For the detection and identification of these substances, gas chromatographic separation hyphenated with high resolution mass spectrometry depicts an ideal instrumental technique.
GC-ecTOFMS hyphenation generates various types of information via simultaneous electron and chemical ionization high mass resolution mass spectrometry. Advantages are given for target, known unknown and unknown unknown data analysis by generating various types of ions within one single experimental GC-MS run. In this study the experimental non-target screening approach and corresponding data analysis workflows -simultaneously using molecular ion information and structural information- are presented for the molecular identification and authenticity verification process from a brand perfume using GC-ecTOFMS.