Extraction, determination, dietary and environmental risks assessment of phthalate acid esters in bottled water, liquor, and surface water

Abstract

An accurate, rapid, and efficient method called salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction (SALLE) combined with gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) for the determination of 16 phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in bottled water, liquor and surface water samples was developed. The main factors affecting the SALLE efficiency, such as sample pH, salting-out solution volume and pH were investigated with the aid of orthogonal design. Under the optimum conditions, good linearities for PAEs were obtained in a range of 1–200 ng/mL, with the coefficient (R²) above 0.995. The limits of detection (LODs) were between 0.01 and 2.00 ng/mL. Compared with the published methods for the detection of plasticizer, this method was more rapid, easy-operating, highly sensitive, and environmental-friendly. Therefore, this SALLE-GC-MS/MS method could be a robust alternative for PAEs determination and risks assessment in various matrices. Dietary and environmental risk of PAEs in all the samples were assessed by safety factor (SF), carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessment models and risk quotient (RQ). The results showed no health risk up to 1 kg/day intake for bottled water and liquor, a high or moderate environmental risk at most surface water sampling sites.