Parts-per-trillion determination of styrene in yoghurt by purge-and-trap gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection.

Headspace sampling methods prior to capillary gas chromatography have been widely used for the determination of volatile compounds present in very different kinds of samples. This paper describes an automated and rapid system to determine volatiles from yoghurt. Thirty-five volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified in polystyrene cups used for yoghurt packaging and 42 VOCs from yoghurt samples. Quantitation of styrene in several samples from the Spanish retail market was carried out.