Determination of phthalate esters in total suspended particulates in Central Taiwan

Abstract

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are ubiquitous contaminants from plasticizers of polyvinyl chloride and other polymers. The investigation of the PAEs in the environment, especially ambient air particulates, is very important. In this study, the determination of PAEs in total suspended particulates (TSP) by using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was evaluated. The results indicated that the concentrations of TSP at Luliao sampling site ranged from 40.23 to 94.9 μg m⁻³. In addition, Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate was the most abundant PAEs accounting for 89.7–98.9% of TSP. Total PAEs concentrations in central Taiwan ranged from 20.89 to 86.50 ng m⁻³. Moreover, the GC/MS method enabling simple, rapid, sensitive and reliable results was adopted in this study. The method is recommended for the analysis of PAEs in TSP samples from the ambient air.

Keywords:

• Phthalate esters
• total suspended particulates
• gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
• Central Taiwan