Abstract: The aim of study was to develop a novel method using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) to determine 34 components, which are categorized into 6 kinds of plastic additives including antioxidant, plasticizer, ultraviolet light absorber, colorant, surfactant and fire retardant, in highland barley liquor. Samples were diluted with water to a 20% alcohol content, and extracted with acetonitrile under salting-out conditions. The UPLC system was equipped with a Waters HSS T3 C18 analytical column (2.1 mm × 150 mm, 1.7 μm) utilizing methanol-0.1% ammonium acetate as mobile phase in gradient elution mode with a ?ow rate of 0.2 mL/min. An electrospray ionization ion source under positive ion mode (ESI+) for multiple reaction monitoring analysis was used, and quantification was performed by an external standard method. The calibration curves exhibited a good linearity in wide concentration ranges with correlation coefficients of over 0.99 for all analytes. The average recoveries from spiked highland barley liquor at two concentrations ranged from 71.2% to 106.7% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) from 4.2% to 15.4%. The limits of detection (LODs) were between 5 and 50 μg/L. A total of fifteen kinds of plastic additives were found in 12 batches of samples. Therefore, the new method allowed simultaneous determination of different kinds of plastic additives that differ widely in physicochemical properties. It is a promising method for the identi?cation and quantitation of plastic additive compounds in liquor.

Key words: plastic additives, ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), highland barley liquor