DETERMINATION OF PHTHALATES FROM BOTTLED WATER BY GC-MS
IRINA DUMITRAȘCU
ABSTRACT- Determination of phthalates from bottled water by GC-MS. Phthalates are ubiquitous pollutants in the environment, due to their widespread use in the last years. These compounds are used principally as plasticizers, to impact flexibility, workability and durability to polymers but they can also be found in products such as paints, adhesives, inks and cosmetics. Phthalates are not chemically bounded to polymers; hence they are easily released and migrate into foods, beverages and drinking water from the packaging or bottling materials or manufacturing processes. This process accelerates as plastic products age and break down. With respect to their endocrine disrupting potential, phthalates such as benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), di-butyl phthalate (DBP) and di-isobutyl phthalate (DIBP) have been found to elicit estrogenic responses in in vitro assays. It is possible that phthalates are a contributory factor to endocrine-mediated adverse effects observed in wildlife and humans over the past few decades. In this experiment we have analyzed the phthalates from different bottled waters purchased from the market. Determination by gas chromatography in combination with mass spectrometry detector (GC–MS) in electronic ionization mode (EI) with selected-ion monitoring (SIM) acquisition method (GC–MS (EI–SIM)) has been carried out. Methods have been developed for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of phthalates. The base peak (m/z = 149) of all the phthalates was selected for the screening studies. The characteristic ions of each compound were chosen for quantitative studies.
Keywords: phthalates, DBP, DiBP, BBP, bottled water