Fast and Reliable Determination of Phthalic Acid Esters in the Blood of Marine Turtles by Means of Solid Phase Extraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography-Ion Trap/Mass Spectrometry
Ivan Notardonato,
Cristina Di Fiore,
Alessia Iannone,
Mario Vincenzo Russo,
Monica Francesca Blasi,
Gabriele Favero,
Daniela Mattei,
Carmela Protano,
Matteo Vitali,
Pasquale Avino
Affiliations
Ivan Notardonato
Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, I-86100 Campobasso, Italy
Cristina Di Fiore
Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, I-86100 Campobasso, Italy
Alessia Iannone
Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, I-86100 Campobasso, Italy
Mario Vincenzo Russo
Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, I-86100 Campobasso, Italy
Monica Francesca Blasi
Department of Chemistry and Technologies of Drug, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, I-00185 Rome, Italy
Gabriele Favero
Department of Chemistry and Technologies of Drug, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, I-00185 Rome, Italy
Daniela Mattei
Department of Environment and Health, Italian National Health Institute, I-00161 Rome, Italy
Carmela Protano
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, University of Rome La Sapienza, I-00185 Rome, Italy
Matteo Vitali
Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, University of Rome La Sapienza, I-00185 Rome, Italy
Pasquale Avino
Department of Agriculture, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, I-86100 Campobasso, Italy
The presence of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in marine environments is an important issue. These chemicals are able to affect marine organisms, particularly marine turtles, and to act as endocrine disrupters. In this paper, for the first time, a simple and reproducible analytical method based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with gas chromatography—ion trap/mass spectrometry (GC-IT/MS) was developed for the extraction of phthalates from the blood of marine turtles. The extraction was obtained by using C18 phthalates-free as the stationary phase. In order to individuate the best working conditions for the extraction, the adsorption isotherms and breakthrough curves were studied. The overall analytical methodology was validated in terms of limit of detection (LOD, 0.08–0.6 ng mL−1), limit of quantification (LOQ, 0.4–0.8 ng mL−1), and correlation coefficients (>0.9933). By using this procedure, percentage recoveries ranging from 89 to 103% were achieved. The precision parameters (intra-day and inter-day) were studied, and the obtained values were smaller than 12.5%. These data confirm the goodness of the proposed analytical methodology, which is applied to real samples.
