Spectrofluorimetric determination of butylated hydroxytoluene and butylated hydroxyanisole in their combined formulation: application to butylated hydroxyanisole residual analysis in milk and butter

Abstract Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) are two antioxidants that have been extensively used in many applications. Both are well known for their debatable health risks due to their multiple intake sources. Therefore, conservative limits are set for them in different regulations adapted to the matrices in which they exist. Here we present a simple spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of BHT and BHA based on their native fluorescence and synchronous scanning mode. The type of solvent and the interval between emission and excitation wavelengths were carefully optimized. Under the optimized conditions, good linearities were obtained between the emission intensity and the corresponding concentrations of BHT and BHA over the range of 3–18 µg/mL and 0.1–7 µg/mL, respectively with a good correlation coefficient (r > 0.99). The limits of detection were 0.9 and 0.02 µg/mL, and the quantification limits were 3 and 0.05 µg/mL for BHT and BHA, respectively. The suggested procedure was validated according to ICH guidelines Q2 (R1). Furthermore, the method’s greenness was assessed by three different methods, and it proved to be eco-reasonable. The method was successfully applied to the determination of BHT and BHA in pharmaceutical formulations. We also applied the suggested method for monitoring the residual BHA in conventional, powdered milk and butter, with good recovery in spiked samples.