Determining MOSH/MOAH with GCxGC-TOFMS

200409_header_mosh-moah_v1Contamination of food by mineral oil hydrocarbons such as mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) has been a growing concern since 2012, when the European Food Safety Authority flagged them as a potential health concern. While the main concerns are bioaccumulation from MOSH and the carcinogenicity of MOAH, data on consumer exposure is incomplete. Prevailing wisdom suggests we make every effort to minimize MOSH/MOAH contamination, however, MOSH/MOAH analysis is not easy. Though there is a standard European GC-FID method, countries are still discussing GC-MS standard methods for MOSH/MOAH analysis. The existing methods struggle to deconvolute the various hydrocarbons.

Enter the LECO Pegasus® BT 4D with GCxGC-TOFMS.

The biggest problem with MOSH/MOAH analysis is not simply identifying their presence—an oil without any MOSH/MOAH is as realistic as a bacon without any fat—but the determination and quantification of the hydrocarbons. MOSH/MOAH contain a complex variety of analytes over a wide, dynamic range of differing importance.

MOSH MOAH Chromatogram-1LECO’s GCxGC-TOFMS systems are capable of deconvoluting the compounds in the samples and displaying detailed chromatograms. Our ChromaTOF® brand software then processes the data from the mass spectrometer, identifying chromatographic regions of various MOSH and MOAH impurities. The color-coded classification summary can be applied over a chromatogram to provide easy-to-read regions of MOSH/MOAH analytes, greatly improving accuracy and reducing interpretation error.

You can learn more about this analysis by downloading our poster

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