Development of an Analytical Method for Dibutyl Phthalate Determination Using Surrogate Analyte Approach

Abstract

Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is a phthalic acid ester and is widely used in polymeric products to make them more flexible. DBP is found in almost every plastic material and is believed to be persistent in the environment. Various analytical methods have been used to measure DBP in different matrices. Considering the ubiquitous nature of DBP, the most important challenge in DBP analyses is the contamination of even analytical grade organic solvents with this compound and lack of availability of a true blank matrix to construct the calibration line. Standard addition method or using artificial matrices reduce the precision and accuracy of the results. In this study a surrogate analyte approach that is based on using deuterium labeled analyte (DBP-d4) to construct the calibration line was applied to determine DBP in hexane samples.

Figure 1

Total ion chromatogram for hexane(A), extracted ion chromatogram for m/z 149 representing DBP (B) and extracted ion chromatogram for m/z 153 representing DBP-d4 (C).

Figure 2

SIM GC-MS total ion chromatogram (A) and extracted ion chromatograms for DBP m/z 149 (B) and DBPd4 m/z 153 (C) in hexane sample (25 ng/ml