Organophosphate and phthalate esters in standard reference material 2585 organic contaminants in house dust

Abstract

The levels of 22 phthalate diesters (phthalates) and organophosphate triesters (organophosphates) have been investigated in standard reference material 2585 (SRM 2585) "organic contaminants in house dust." Ultrasonic-assisted solvent extraction and solid-phase extraction on a Florisil adsorbent were used as the extraction and cleanup steps combined with analysis using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in positive ion chemical ionization mode. Seven phthalates were detected in the concentration range 1-570 μg/g. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate was the major phthalate present at 570 μg/g. Ten organophosphates were detected in SRM 2585. Tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate was the predominant organophosphate at 82 μg/g, and nine organophosphates were determined at concentrations ranging from 0.19 to 2.3 μg/g. Five organophosphates were below the method detection limit, of which two were in level with the procedural blank. The applied extraction and cleanup method was evaluated for the analysis of SRM 2585. The extraction yield was ≥99%, except for tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (97%) and diethyl phthalate (98.5%). The problem of calibration curvature is addressed, and it is shown that the use of deuterated standards improves the analysis. The concentrations of ten organophosphate esters were determined in SRM 2585, and seven of these were compared with existing data. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the levels of the seven phthalates esters in SRM 2585 "organic contaminants in house dust."