title: Determination of Fragrance Allergens by Ultraviolet Femtosecond Laser Ionization Mass Spectrometry.
abstract: The allergenic compounds listed in the Cosmetics Directive by the Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety were analyzed by gas chromatography combined with multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry using a femtosecond laser emitting at 200 and 267 nm as the ionization source. The limits of detection were less than 100 pg/μL for all of the compounds, permitting them to be measured in actual samples that were simply prepared by a 100-fold dilution of the original sample. The ionization process was investigated for the 26 allergens, some of which had no absorption band, even in the far-UV region. As a result, nonresonant two-photon ionization was found to be the most sensitive and universal method for the trace analysis of these compounds, because of the short pulse width, i.e., a high peak power, of the femtosecond laser used. It should be noted that the excess energy can be reduced by using a laser emitting at longer wavelengths (267 nm) and that fragmentation can be suppressed, especially for a molecule that contains a long side chain. Three commercially available perfumes were measured, and more than 10 allergenic compounds were determined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University , 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Shimpei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shibuta
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Chemistry, Graduate School of Design, Kyushu University , 4-9-1, Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka 815-8540, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imasaka
authors.affiliation: Division of International Strategy, Center of Future Chemistry, Kyushu University , 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
authors.forename: Totaro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imasaka
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis*; D057230:Limit of Detection; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D010476:Perfume / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D010476:Perfume