Phthalates and Mixed Alkyl Phthalates Analysis in Plastics Using GC-MS With Cold EI

Phthalates are esters of phthalic acid. They are widely used as plasticizers to improve the flexibility, durability, and performance of plastics in a variety of products. However, certain phthalates are associated with significant health risks, including endocrine disruption and reproductive toxicity. Consequently, regulatory agencies worldwide implemented restrictions on the use of phthalates, particularly in children's products. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is useful for phthalates analysis; however, heavy phthalates, such as diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and diundecyl phthalate (DIUP), present significant challenges due to their multiple isomers and absence of molecular ions using standard electron ionization (EI). These challenges are further compounded in cases of mixed alkyl phthalates, where existing methods fail to provide the essential molecular ions, hence cannot serve for their identification and quantification. Phthalate analysis is described with GC-MS with Cold EI, which is based on the coupling of the GC and MS with a supersonic molecular beam and on electron ionization of vibrationally cold sample molecules (thereby named Cold EI) during their flight-through a contact-free ion source. This method offers a transformative solution for heavy and mixed alkyl phthalates analysis as Cold EI provides a clear molecular ion for unambiguous identification. Our phthalate analysis using GC-MS with Cold EI is characterized by the following: (a) Plastic samples can be analyzed "as is" for their contents using ChromatoProbe for both sample introduction and thermal desorption; (b) identification and quantification of heavy and mixed alkyl phthalates are enabled via the provision of molecular ions and (c) much faster analysis.