Determination of phthalates – effects of extraction parameters on recovery

Phthalates are ubiquitous contaminants in indoor environments, and are reported to causeadverse health effects. Due to their semi-volatile nature, phthalate samples require a multisteppreparation before quantification with GC-MS. Many different sampling media,extraction procedures, and solvents are utilized in phthalate analytics, while comparisons andjustifications for each choice are lacking. In this study, phthalate recoveries were comparedfrom glass fibre filter (GFF), XAD resin + GFF, and polyurethane foam (PUF) after ultrasonictreatment (US), and Soxhlet extraction (SX) with different solvents. The recoveries variedbetween phthalates, sampling media, solvents, and extraction methods. The overall bestperformance was obtained using US and toluene (TOL) for GFF; SX and TOL forXAD+GFF; and dichloromethane and US for PUF. The recoveries ranged between 76 and131 %. Each of these combinations is suitable in terms of recovery, whereas selecting theoptimum sampling medium to be used in the air samplings requires further research.