Determination of personal care products in fish using vacuum-assisted sorbent extraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A method involving vacuum-assisted sorbent extraction (VASE) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed as an alternative to solid-phase microextraction (SPME) for the simultaneous determination of eleven personal care products (PCPs) belonging to five different classes in fish samples. To achieve optimal analytical performance, key VASE parameters, including extraction time and temperature, headspace volume, salt content, organic solvent content and desorption temperature and time were optimized. The method was validated using tilapia and salmon samples and demonstrated satisfactory analytical performance, with acceptable linearity (R2 > 0.96), limits of detection (LOD) ranging from 0.001 to 0.552 μg g-1 (wet weight) for all analytes except methyl paraben, recoveries ranging from 73 to 93.8%, and precision with relative standard deviations below 15% for all analytes except octocrylene. Compared with the previously reported SPME fiber-based method, which provided LOD ranging from 0.01 to 1.01 μg g-1 (wet weight), the VASE method achieved improved sensitivity. While significant matrix effects were observed for most analytes in both matrices using SPME at the 95% confidence level, the VASE method showed minimal matrix effects, as only three analytes in salmon exhibited statistically significant differences between matrix-matched and aqueous standards. Additionally, the greenness and practicality of the method were evaluated using the Analytical GREEnness Metric Approach (AGREE), the Analytical Eco-Scale, and the Blue Applicability Grade Index (BAGI) metrics. The developed VASE-GC-MS method represents a green and practical analytical approach for the screening and determination of PCP residues in fish matrices with varying lipid content.