Identification of additives in polymers from single-use bioprocessing bags by accelerated solvent extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry

Abstract Single-use technologies are increasingly used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Despite their advantages, these plastic assemblies draw concern because they are a potential source of contamination due to extractable and leachable compounds (E&Ls). Characterising E&Ls from such materials is a necessary step in establishing their suitability for use. Therefore, there is an urgent need for sensitive methods to identify and quantitatively assess compounds in plastic materials. Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) is a powerful technique that can be reliably used for this purpose. In this study, ASE followed by liquid chromatography and Orbitrap-based High Resolution Accurate Mass (HRAM) mass analysis was found to be an efficient and versatile method for the determination of additives in different multilayer polymer systems from single-use bags. ASE optimisation was performed using a design of experiments approach. The type of solvent, temperature, swelling agent addition, static time and number of cycles were the selected variables. Optimum conditions were dependent on the type of plastic film. Ethyl acetate and cyclohexane were selected individually as optimum solvents. Optimum temperatures were 90–100 °C. Pressure was set at 1500 psi and extraction time was 30 min in 2 cycles. Swelling agent addition was necessary with polar extraction solvents. More than 100 additives and degradation products were confidently identified by HRAM MS. Correlations between the type and levels of identified additives and the type of polymer system were established. In addition, degradation behaviour and pathways for some additives can be addressed.