Abstract:Objective To establish a method for the determination of pentachlorophenol in wooden chopping boards and wooden chopsticks by vortex-assisted pre-column derivatization gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Methods The sulfuric acid solution was added to convert sodium salt into molecular pentachlorophenol, which was extracted with a mixed solvent of ethyl acetate and n-hexane(2∶8,V/V), purified by concentrated sulfuric acid, and derivatized with acetic acid pyridine solution. HP-5MS column(30 m×0.25 mm,0.25 μm) was used for separation and GC-MS/MS multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) was used for determination. Results In the range of 0-200 μg/L, pentachlorophenol had a good linear relationship (r=0.999 8), the detection limit was 0.2 μg/kg, and the limit of quantification was 0.7 μg/kg. The recoveries and precisions of the three concentrations (n=6) showed an average spike recovery ranged from 90.0% to 103.6% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1.5%-3.6%. Conclusion This method was accurate, highly sensitive and rapid. It is suitable for the accurate detection of pentachlorophenol in wooden chopping boards and wooden chopsticks.