Determination of residual acrylamide in medical polyacrylamide hydrogel by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy.

OBJECTIVE To determine residual acrylamide in medical polyacrylamide hydrogel by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectroscopy (HPLC-MS). METHODS After (13)C3 labeled acrylamide was added, the sample was extracted with water and then cleaned up with Extrelut 20. The polyacrylamide hydrogel sample and 20 clinical cases were analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS and isotope dilution quantifying technique in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. RESULTS Acrylamide was separated from polyacrylamide hydrogel. The concentration of acrylamide in polyacrylamide hydrogel ranged from 3.9 x 10(-9) to 3.1 x 10(-8) g/L in the 20 clinical cases. The peak area was favorable linear and the range was up to 3000 microg/L. The recovery rate was 103.1% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 6.20%, when the mark level was 50 microg/L. CONCLUSION HPLC-MS is a rapid, accurate, and sensitive method for the determination of residual acrylamide in medical polyacrylamide hydrogel.