To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the SPME technique has been used to quantify THMs in soft drinks. Individual standard stock solutions of chloroform (Tedia, Fairfield, USA), dichlorobromomethane, chlorodibromomethane (Sigma–Aldrich, Milwaukee, USA) and bromoform (Synth, Diadema, Brazil) were prepared in methanol (Supelco, Bellefonte, PA, USA) resulting in solutions of 4700, 2500, 2500 and 7460 mg L−1, respectively. Intermediate

standard solutions of 100, 10, 1 and BMS-754807 chemical structure 0.2 mg L−1 of each compound were prepared in methanol by the dilution of standard stock solutions with methanol. Dichloromethane (Sigma–Aldrich) and diiodomethane (Sigma–Aldrich) were used as internal standards. Stock standard solutions of 2000 mg L−1 of dichloromethane and diiodomethane in methanol were prepared. Intermediate standard solutions of 100 mg L−1 were prepared in the same way as the THMs intermediate standard solutions. All standard solutions Obeticholic Acid were stored at 0 °C. Sodium chloride (Nuclear, Diadema, SP, Brazil) was used for the modification of

the ionic strength of the samples. Sodium hydroxide (Nuclear) 6 mol L−1 was prepared in mineral water and used to reduce the carbonic acid (pKa 6.1) of the samples until pH 6.1. Mineral water was used since in previous assays with distiled water and ultra pure water, trace concentrations of these compounds were detected. Other authors have reported the presence of THMs, especially chloroform, in all aqueous matrices and even in the air ( Zoccolilo, Amendola, Cafaro, & Insogna, 2005). For this reason, mineral water was also used to construct the external calibration curve. The investigated fibres were polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, 100 μm), carboxen–polydimethylsiloxane (CAR–PDMS, 75 μm), divinylbenzene–carboxen–polydimethylsiloxane

(DVB–CAR–PDMS, 50/30 μm), polyacrylate (PA, 85 μm), carbowax–divinylbenzene (CW–DVB, 65 μm) and polydimethylsiloxane–divinylbenzene (PDMS-DVB, 65 μm) purchased from Supelco (Bellefonte, PA, USA). Chromatographic analysis was performed on a Shimadzu GC-14B gas chromatograph, equipped with split/splitless injector and electron capture detector. Chromatographic separation was carried out in an Rtx-WAX capillary column (30 m × 0.25 mm, 0.25 μm in film thickness). Ultra pure nitrogen was used as the carrier and make-up gas at Unoprostone 1.0 and 48 mL min−1, respectively. Split ratio was 1:120. Column oven temperature was 40 °C (2 min), 8 °C min−1 to 80 °C, 20 °C min−1 to 180 °C (1 min). Injector temperature was fixed at 280 °C, except when the CW–DVB fibre was used because the manufacturer recommends a maximum temperature of 260 °C. The detector temperature was fixed at 260 °C. The total chromatographic run was 12 min. The identity of the THMs in the samples was confirmed using a Shimadzu GC–MS-QP2010 Plus. The quadrupole mass detector was operated at 200 °C in the electron impact mode at 70 eV.