METHYL-BROMIDE DETERMINATION IN SELECTED FOODS BY HEADSPACE TECHNIQUE

A headspace method used earlier for determining methyl bromide (MB) in assorted nuts and peanut butters has been successfully applied to oth er foods that could potentially contain traces of this toxic fumigant. The foods tested include 63 off-the-shelf spices and seasonings, 83 t able-ready items (grain-based, dried, or highly seasoned), 30 dried fr uits and trail mixes, and 38 oil-based items (oil-seeds, cooking oils, or spicy oil-based dressings). Sample headspace gas is produced by bl ending less-than-or-equal-to 50 g sample in 250+/-50 mL aqueous soluti on in a sealed 1000 mL blender cup. After equilibration at 25-degrees- C, the headspace is sampled with a gas-tight syringe and injected into a dual column-dual detector gas chromatograph. One determination is m ade with a 20% OV-101 packed column and a Ni-63 electron capture detec tor (ECD), the other with a GS-Q wide-bore capillary column and a Hall electrolytic conductivity detector (HECD). Of the approximately 200 s amples tested, none contained detectable MB residue at a quantitation limit <100 ng/g sample. All fortified samples yielded MB recovery. Sam ples were fortified at levels ranging from 78 to 3250 ng MB/g. Recover ies ranged from a mean high of 56% for spices and seasonings to a mean low of 30% for oil-based foods. The overall recovery and CV, includin g the results from assorted nuts and peanut butters, were 46 and 33%, respectively.