Determination of isophorone in foods

Isophorone (ISP) is used widely as a solvent of natural and synthetic resins, wax, printing ink, pesticides and paints. In this study, the level of ISP in various foods (93 samples) was analyzed. ISP was collected from samples by steam distillation after the addition of an internal standard, deuterium-labeled ISP, then extracted with dichloromethane, cleaned up on a silica gel column, and determined by GC/MS. ISP was barely detected in fish, meat and vegetable samples, but it was detected in rice, wheat, beans and their processed products, miso, soy sauce and fermented soybeans (natto). The maximum level was 8.9 ng/g in miso. The packaging materials of the foods contained little ISP, and so the source of ISP in the foods could not be clarified.