A method for evaluating indoor phthalate exposure levels in collected dust

Abstract

This paper provides a method for evaluating indoor phthalate exposure levels in collected dust, including dust collection, chemical analysis and quality control. Indoor dusts were collected with a self-made equipment and pretreated by the Soxhlet extractor method. Six phthalates, i.e., diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBzP), di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DiNP) in the dust were analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). • Measures were taken to avoid background contamination of phthalates during sampling and chemical analysis to accurately evaluate the indoor phthalates exposure levels. • Filter sock and self-made mouthpiece mounted on vacuum cleaner were made of nylon and aluminum respectively. • Dust from surface of plastic products was avoided. The pretreatment of vessels and analysis of blank samples were conducted to reduce “noise” from background contamination.

Keywords

• A method for evaluating indoor phthalate exposure levels in collected dust