Dual-template magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer-based sorbent for simultaneous and selective detection of phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds in foodstuffs

In this research, an efficient (94.9–99.4%) and fast (5 min) method has been developed and validated for simultaneous identification and quantification of phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds with an emphasis on bisphenol A (BPA) and 4-cumylphenol (4-CP) in food stuffs using a dual-template magnetic, molecularly-imprinted polymer (dt-MMIP). The dt-MMIP was synthesized by a sol-gel method using Fe3O4@SiO2 (as the core) and BPA and 4-CP (as templates). The dt-MMIP was coupled with magnetic solid phase extraction to simultaneously detect BPA and 4-CP in food samples. BPA was measured from bottled water and fruit juice samples samples at 0.36 and 0.24 ng mL−1, respectively, while 4-CP in those samples was 0.33 and 0.16 ng mL−1, respectively. Their detection limits were estimated as 0.04 and 0.05 ng mL−1, respectively. The developed dt-MMIP method was highly reproducible, while maintaining a good cyclability up to 20 cycles.