Determination of the Banned Phthalates in PVC Plastic of Toys by the Soxhlet Extraction-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Method

Abstract

A Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometry method for the determination of six phthalates which are banned by European Union Regulation and USA CPSIA, in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) toys is studied in this article. The samples were extracted in six hours by Soxhlet extractor when using dichloromethane as the extracting agent, researched by orthogonal experiment. Using TIC (total ion chromatogram) and SIM (select ion monitor) of GC-MS to achieve phthalate's qualitative and quantitative determination, of which detection limit, accuracy and operating procedure are better than the standards in EN 14372:2004 clause 6.3.2 and ASTM D7083-04.

Investigation of the amount of transdermal exposure of newborn babies to phthalates in paper diapers and certification of the safety of paper diapers

“…Phthalates are the most commonly used plasticizers and this would result in more worrying human exposure to phthalates from the profusion of a variety of poly(vinyl chloride)-based polymeric materials, especially in items that are directly and frequently left in contact with children, including toys and various childcare articles (EU-CSTEE, 1998;Earls et al, 2003;Huang et al, 2011;Al-Natsheh et al, 2015). Children and newborn babies tend to chew and suck their toys and other items, which might result in extracting the phthalates out of the plastic matrices and ingesting them, thus exposing the children to highly harmful phthalates.…”

“…Research reported in the literature indicates the negative impact of phthalates on humans, stressing greater risks to the immune systems of children and newborn babies, and hence their general health. The health hazards reported in the literature include carcinogenicity, kidney and liver damage, reproductive toxicity, and endocrine disruption (Huang et al, 2011). As a result, and according to the European Union Regulations Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), toys and childcare articles containing six of the main phthalates in a concentration greater than 0.1% by weight of the plasticized material, namely di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), and di-n-octyl phthalate (DNOP), have been banned (EU, 2009).…”

Validation of ultrasonic extraction method for the quantification of phthalates in poly (vinyl chloride) and polypropylene matrices at low concentrations by gas-chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS)

“…Phthalates make up a group of industrial chemicals with high global production volumes and are commonly used as plasticizers in the production of a variety of plastics, with poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) incorporating the largest share of the market [3][4]. The primary purpose for the addition of phthalates to PVC is to soften the plastic and to improve the properties of the plastic such as flexibility, elasticity, transparency, durability and longevity [5]. These plastic materials are used in a wide range of products such as food packaging, textiles, toys, medical devices and electro-technical products [6][7][8][9].…”

“…Phthalates do not chemically bind to plastic, and can easily migrate into the environment [5,11]. Studies have also shown the presence and migration of phthalates from plastics such as PVC, polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [3,5,[12][13][14]. As the plastic ages and breaks down, or when heat is applied, migration of phthalates into the environment accelerates [1,11,15].…”

“…Phthalates are present in many household products and therefore the probability of exposure is high. The presence of phthalates in plastic toys and plastic packaging products is of particular concern due to their toxicological effects on human health [5,11].…”