Determination of acrylamide and methacrylamide by normal phase high performance liquid chromatography and UV detection

A method using normal phase high performance liquid chromatography (NP-HPLC) with UV detection was developed for the analysis of acrylamide and methacrylamide. The method relies on the chromatographic separation of these analytes on a polar HPLC column designed for the separation of organic acids. Identification of acrylamide and methacrylamide is approached dually, that is directly in their protonated forms and as their hydrolysis products acrylic and methacrylic acid respectively, for confirmation. Detection and quantification is performed at 200 nm. The method is simple allowing for clear resolution of the target peaks from any interfering substances. Detection limits of 10 μg L−1 were obtained for both analytes with the inter- and intra-day RSD for standard analysis lying below 1.0%. Use of acetonitrile in the elution solvent lowers detection limits and retention times, without impairing resolution of peaks. The method was applied for the determination of acrylamide and methacrylamide in spiked food samples without native acrylamide yielding recoveries between 95 and 103%. Finally, commercial samples of french and roasted fries, cookies, cocoa and coffee were analyzed to assess applicability of the method towards acrylamide, giving results similar with those reported in the literature.