Integrating
Post-Ionization Separation via Differential
Mobility Spectrometry into Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry
for Toy Safety Screening
posted on 2023-12-28, 13:33authored byMengmeng Yan, Nan Zhang, Xiaoxu Li, Jianqiang Xu, Haimin Lei, Qiang Ma
Direct analysis in real time (DART) enables direct desorption
and
ionization of analytes, bypassing the time-consuming chromatographic
separation traditionally required for mass spectrometry (MS) analysis.
However, DART-MS suffers from matrix interference of complex samples,
resulting in compromised detection sensitivity and quantitation accuracy.
In this study, DART-MS was combined with differential mobility spectrometry
(DMS) to provide an additional dimension of post-ionization ion mobility
separation within a millisecond time scale, compensating for the lack
of separation in DART-MS analysis. As proof-of-concept, primary aromatic
amines (PAAs), a class of potentially hazardous chemicals, were analyzed
in various toy products, including bubble solutions, finger paints,
and plush toys. In addition to commercial Dip-it glass rod and metal
mesh sampling tools, a customized rapid extractive evaporation device
was designed for the accelerated extraction and sensitive analysis
of solid toy samples. The incorporation of DMS in DART-MS analysis
enabled the rapid separation and differentiation of isomeric analytes,
leading to improved accuracy and reliability. The developed protocols
were optimized and validated, achieving good linearity with correlation
coefficients greater than 0.99 and acceptable repeatability with relative
standard deviations less than 10%. Moreover, satisfactory sensitivity
was realized with limits of detection and quantitation ranges of 0.2–5
and 1–20 μg/kg (μg/L) for the 11 PAA analytes.
The established methodology was applied for the analysis of real toy
samples (n = 18), which confirmed its appealing potential
for toy safety screening and consumer health protection.