An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method with solid phase extraction (SPE) was established for the detection of ethephon residue in milk. In the sample pretreatment stage, formic acid solution was selected as the extraction solvent, and the extract was purified on an amino SPE column. The target compound was separated on a Waters Anionic Polar Pesticide column (150 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 μm) using gradient elution with a mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid containing 50 mmol/L ammonium formate and acetonitrile. The detection was performed using electrospray ionization in the negative ion mode with multiple reaction monitoring, and the matrix-matched external standard method was used for quantification. The calibration curve for ethephon showed an excellent linearity (R² > 0.99) in the concentration range of 2 to 100 ng/mL, and the limit of detection and limit of quantification of this method were 0.5 and 1.0 μg/kg, respectively. At spiked concentration levels of 1.0, 2.0 and 10.0 μg/kg, the recoveries were between 92.50% and 113.76%, and the precision, expressed as relative standard deviation, ranged from 3.04% to 4.60%. In conclusion, the UPLC-MS/MS method has the advantages of high accuracy, specificity, and repeatability, and is very suitable for the determination of ethphon in milk.

A high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) method was established for the determination of nonylphenol in milk powder. Samples were extracted with acetonitrile and cleaned up with a solid phase extraction column. The analytes were separated on a Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 mm × 50 mm, 1.7 μm), detected by electrospray ionization in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, and quantified by an external standard method. The results showed that good linearity was observed in the concentration range of 1–200 ng/mL (R² > 0.99). The limit of detection (LOD, R_S/N = 3) was 2 µg/kg and the limit of quantitation (LOQ, R_S/N = 10) was 5 µg/kg. The recoveries at different spiked levels were between 81.10% and 107.39% with relative standard deviation (RSD) ranging from 1.97% to 9.73%. This method has the advantages of accurate results, small background interference, simple operation, good stability and short pretreatment time, and is useful for the detection of nonylphenol in milk powder.