US EPA

3859102 

Journal Article 

Determination of 15 phthalate esters in air by gas-phase and particle-phase simultaneous sampling 

Chi, C; Xia, M; Zhou, C; Wang, X; Weng, M; Shen, X 

2017 

Yes 

Journal of Environmental Sciences
ISSN: 1001-0742
EISSN: 1878-7320 

55 

137-145 

English 

28477807 

10.1016/j.jes.2016.01.036 

WOS:000402355200015 

Based on previous research, the sampling and analysis methods for phthalate esters (PAEs) were improved by increasing the sampling flow of indoor air from 1 to 4L/min, shortening the sampling duration from 8 to 2hr. Meanwhile, through the optimization of chromatographic conditions, the concentrations of 9 additional PAE pollutants in indoor air were measured. The optimized chromatographic conditions required a similar amount of time for analysis as before, but gave high responsivity, the capability of simultaneously distinguishing 15 kinds of PAEs, and a high level of discrimination between individual sample peaks, as well as stable peak generation. The recovery rate of all gas-phase and particle-phase samples of the 15 kinds of PAEs ranged from 91.26% to 109.42%, meeting the quantitative analysis requirements for indoor and outdoor air sampling and analysis. For the first time, investigation of the concentration levels as well as characteristics of 15 kinds of PAEs in the indoor air from four different traffic micro-environments (private vehicles, busses, taxis and subways) was carried out, along with validation of the optimized sampling and analytical method. The results show that all the 9 additional PAEs could be detected at relatively high pollution levels in the indoor air from the four traffic micro-environments. As none of the pollution levels of the 15 kinds of PAEs in the indoor air from the 4 traffic micro-environments should be neglected, it is of great significance to increase the types of PAEs able to be detected in indoor air. 

Air pollution; Phthalate esters; Traffic micro-environment; Gas-phase and particle-phase; Sampling and analytical method