A paper-analytical device for detecting bisphenol-A in foods

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a plastic monomer that can leach into food and cause adverse health effects with long-term exposure. In this study, we developed simple paper-analytical devices (PADs) for detecting BPA in food. The PADs were designed with hydrophilic and hydrophobic areas via wax printing. The hydrophilic areas were designed as a detection zone and modified with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) for the immobilisation of BPA-bovine serum albumin (BSA). The monoclonal antibodies against BPA were generated and modified with quantum dots (QDs) to synthesise QD-antibody (QD-Ab) probes. Detection conditions of the assay were optimized, with results of 0.1 μg of BPA-BSA and 30-fold diluted QD-Ab probes. The detection limit was 0.098 μg L⁻¹ using ImageJ analysis. Samples of drinking water, green tea beverage and peanut cooking oil were selected to conduct the matrix effect study. The recovery rates of BPA in different samples ranged from 78.77% to 118.96%, proving that the PADs were a simple and sensitive detection method for easy, low-cost analysis of real food samples.