Determination of Benzene Content in Food Using a Novel Blender Purge and Trap GC/MS Method

Purge and trap methods for the determination of benzene and other volatile organic compounds in food have been developed and evaluated. Although generally applicable to the analysis of beverages, it was found that EPA-based methods had limited applicability to the analysis of solid food samples, falling short in the sample preparation and sampling areas. A novel off-line blender purge and trap sampling method was therefore investigated to overcome some of the problems encountered in the analysis of solid foods. Overall, the new blender purge and trap method has several distinct advantages over conventional purge and trap systems including minimal loss of analyte from sample handling or transfers, improved reproducibility and detection sensitivity, and the ability to analyze solid foods more directly.