Analysis Method of Surfactants for Identification of Residue Dishwashing Detergent

Surfactants are organic compounds that have both hydrophilic and non-polar parts in one molecule, classified as non-ion, anion, cation, and amphoteric surfactants according to the charge of hydrophilic parts in aqueous state. A trace amounts may remain when vegetables and fruits are washed using type1 detergent (Vegetable and fruit detergent), and there is a possibility of exposure to the human body through ingestion. This study developed the simultaneous analysis method for 5 surfactants with LC-MS/MS for analysis of detergent residues after washing vegetables and fruits with detergent. The mobile phase used distilled water and acetonitrile containing 50 mM ammonium formate and 0.1% formic acid and was analyzed using a gradient method using XBridge BEH C8 column. The accuracy of the established method was 83.9-112.1%, and the precision was less than 20%. The detection limit was 7.0 (SLS) to 29.0 (SLES-N3) mu g/L, and the correlation coefficient (r(2)) of calibration line regression was greater than 0.99, it is considered suitable for the analysis of trace amounts of surfactant com-ponents remaining in vegetables and fruits.