Fast separation and sensitive detection of carcinogenic aromatic amines by reversed-phase μ-liquid chromatography coupled with electrochemical detection

A μ-LC method was developed for the fast and sensitive analysis of aromatic amines by electrochemical detection. The chromatographic separation of nine carcinogenic aromatic amines was performed on an ABZ + PLUS column with detection limits up to pM L−1 levels. Mobile phase comprised of methanol-acetate buffer of pH 5 (45:55, v/v) used at a flow rate of 0.2 ml min−1. The detection was performed with a 6 mm glassy carbon electrode at an applied potential of 0.8 V versus Ag/AgCl. An intraday RSD for retention time and peak area were between 0.22% and 0.73% and 1.86% and 4.03%, respectively. The interdays RSD for retention time and peak area were between 0.47% and 1.35% and 2.04% and 4.42%, respectively. The applicability of the assay has been demonstrated by analyzing these aromatic amines in lake water and synthetic food colour additives. A comparison is given between electrochemical and UV detection.