Determination of phthalates in crude extracts of sewage sludges by high-resolution capillary gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection.

A simple solvent extraction by ethyl acetate without subsequent cleanup was used to determine 16 phthalic acid esters (PAEs), including bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), in sewage sludge samples from different catchment areas. The compounds were separated on a gas chromatographic capillary column with a nonpolar HT-8 stationary phase. For most of the PAEs, internal standard quantification with deuterated dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and deuterated DEHP was best achieved by using electron ionization mass spectrometry in the selected-ion monitoring mode. Because of its high concentrations in the sludges, DEHP was quantified in the full-scan acquisition mode. Molecular weight and ester-type information for the PAEs was obtained in the positive chemical ionization mode with methane as the reagent gas. Finally, selected sewage sludges containing different amounts of industrial wastewater were analyzed by the proposed method. DEHP was the most abundant compound found at 21-114 mg/kg x dm, followed by the lower-molecular weight PAEs diethyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, and DBP and the higher-molecular weight compounds butylbenzyl phthalate, dicyclohexyl phthalate, di-n-octyl phthalate, and dinonyl phthalate, which were present mostly at <1 mg/kg x dm.