As a key waterproofing material used in the construction of ancient wooden ships, the organic components of the jointing material (caulking material) are crucial for maintaining the water tightness of the hull. In order to identify the organic components of the caulking material used in the “NanhaiI” shipwreck, dating from the Southern Song Dynasty, a comparative analysis was conducted between raw tung oil and modern tung oil-based caulking material using mass spectrometry. The results indicate that the specific free fatty acids and oxidation products of unsaturated fatty acids in tung oil can serve as markers for the identification of tung oil in caulking materials. Further, the caulking material samples from the “NanhaiI” shipwreck were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS). Five specific fatty acids, namely α-tung acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid, as well as the oxidation products of unsaturated fatty acids (α-tung acid, linoleic acid and oleic acid) were successfully identified. The results show that the organic component of the caulking material used in the “NanhaiI” shipwreck is tung oil. This discovery not only provides an important reference for the study of ancient shipbuilding techniques but also offers a scientific basis for the protection and restoration of sunken ships.

Due to the lack of detection methods, mass spectral databases and reference standards, identifying migrating substances from food contact materials (FCMs) that have wide variations in migration concentrations, high varietal diversity, and complex structures, and come from a wide range of sources remains a challenge in the field of FCMs safety evaluation. In recent years, high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), with high sensitivity, resolution, and accuracy, has been widely applied for screening migrating substances from FCMs, providing robust technical support to tackle the aforementioned challenge, and has gradually become a major approach for the screening and detection of migrating substances from FCMs. This article provides a comprehensive review of the progress on HRMS in the screening of migrating substances from FCMs over the past five years (2019–2024). First, the fundamental principle and classification of HRMS are introduced. This review focuses on the state of the art in the application of HRMS for the screening of migrating substances in FCMs. Additionally, it presents the challenges facing this field. Finally, we provide an outlook on future developments. Through this review, we aim to provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in the field of food safety and to promote the application and development of HRMS in this field.