Determination of Polyvinyl Acetate in Chewing Gum Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography–Evaporative Light Scattering Detector and Pyrolyzer–Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is used in various adhesive, paint, and transparent tape applications. It is also used as a food additive in food manufacturing to make chewing gum and fruit and vegetable glazes; however, guidelines on the amount of food additives that is used have not yet been established. In this study, a method was developed for analysis of polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) using high-performance liquid chromatography with an evaporative light scattering detector (HPLC–ELSD) and pyrolyzer–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py–GC–MS). The analytical methods were applied to commercially available chewing gum. In the HPLC–ELSD analysis, the linearity was acceptable (R(2) > 0.999), and the limits of detection and quantification were 22.2 and 67.3 µg/mL, respectively. The accuracies of PVAc were 87–115% at spike levels of 200–1000 µg/mL for the intra- and inter-day tests. The contents of PVAc in the chewing gum samples were n.d. (not detected)—13.8 g/kg. The presence of PVAc in chewing gum was verified with Py–GC–MS analysis, finding the typical pyrolysates of PVAc, such as acetic acid, benzene, toluene, styrene, indane, naphthalene, and acenaphthene. The developed analytical methods can be applied for successful identification of PVAc in chewing gum.