Issue 10, 2015

DESI MS based screening method for phthalates in consumer goods

Abstract

Phthalates are used as plasticizes in many everyday items, but some of them are known as hormone disruptors, being especially harmful during childhood. The European Union therefore restricted their application in children's toys and certain food packaging to 0.1%w. Due to the ever increasing number of plastic-containing consumer goods, rapid screening methods are needed to ensure and improve consumer safety in the future. In this study we evaluated the performance of desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) mass spectrometry (MS) for rapid quantitative screening of phthalates in toys. DESI allowed for direct surface sampling of the toys under atmospheric conditions with minimal sample preparation, while the high performance mass spectrometer used provided a high sensitivity and reliable identification via accurate mass measurements, high mass resolving power and MS/MS capabilities. External calibration curves for six banned phthalates (DBP, BBP, DEHP, DNOP, DINP and DIDP) were obtained from matrix-matched reference materials. Coefficients of determination were greater than 0.985, LOQs ranged from 0.02%w (DIDP) to 2.26%w (DINP) and the relative standard deviation of the calibration curve slope was less than 7.8% for intraday and 11.4% for interday comparison. The phthalate contents of eleven authentic samples were determined in a proof-of-concept approach using DESI MS and results were compared to those from confirmatory methods. The phthalate content was correctly assigned with relative deviations ranging from −20% to +10% for the majority of samples. Given further optimization and automation, DESI MS is likely to become a useful tool for rapid and accurate phthalate screening in the future.

Graphical abstract: DESI MS based screening method for phthalates in consumer goods

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 Feb 2015
Accepted
25 Mar 2015
First published
25 Mar 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Analyst, 2015,140, 3484-3491

DESI MS based screening method for phthalates in consumer goods

S. Schulz, S. Wagner, S. Gerbig, H. Wächter, D. Sielaff, D. Bohn and B. Spengler, Analyst, 2015, 140, 3484 DOI: 10.1039/C5AN00338E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements