Nontarget Discovery of 11 Aryl Organophosphate Triesters in House Dust Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

There is growing interest in the identification of novel aryl organophosphate triester (OPTE) congeners that may exist in the environment. In this study, we discovered 11 novel aryl OPTEs in north China house dust using a characteristic aryl phosphate fragment-guided high-resolution mass spectrometry method with data-independent acquisition. Tripentylated triphenyl phosphate (TPeTPhP), dicresyl phenyl phosphate (DCrPP), diisodecylphenyl phosphate (DIDPP), butoxyethoxyethyl octyl phenyl phosphate (BEEOPP), dioctyl nonylphenyl phosphate (DONPP), propoxypropyl bis(diphenyl phosphate) (PPBDPhP), octyl nonylphenyl phenyl phosphate (ONPPP), and (saturated mono-oxygen butoxybutyl) butoxyethoxyethyl phenyl phosphate (MBBPP) were detected in 84−100% of 45 samples. ONPPP was present in the highest median concentration of 69.0 ng/g, followed by DONPP (68.7 ng/g), DIDPP (50.3 ng/g), BEEOPP (42.5 ng/g), DCrPP (33.7 ng/g), PPBDPhP (25.0 ng/g), TPeTPhP (9.28 ng/g), and MBBPP (4.80 ng/g). Seven novel aryl OPTEs were also detected in standard house dust SRM2585, and the concentration of DIDPP (4375 ± 660 ng/g) was 4-fold higher than that (1048 ± 44.5 ng/g) of triphenyl phosphate, a typical aryl OPTE. The discovery of these novel OPTEs has significantly enriched our understanding of the aryl OPTEs present in house dust.

Establishment of a Target, Suspect, and Functional Group-Dependent Screening Strategy for Organophosphate Esters (OPEs): “Into the Unknown” of OPEs in the Sediment of Taihu Lake, China

“…Data processing for functional group-dependent screening was accomplished using Xcalibur’s Qual Browser software. Functional group-dependent screening was based on nine feature fragment ions of OPEs reported in previous studies. , The nine fragment ions were triphenyl phosphate ion (C 18 H 16 O 4 P + ), diphenyl phosphate ion (C 12 H 12 O 4 P + ), monophenyl phosphate ion (C 6 H 8 O 4 P + ), phosphate ion (H 4 O 4 P + ), diphenyl phosphate dehydrated form ion (C 12 H 10 O 3 P + ), dicresyl phosphate ion (C 14 H 16 O 4 P + ), dicresyl phosphate dehydrated form ion (C 14 H 14 O 3 P + ), cresyl phenyl ion (C 13 H 14 O 4 P + ), and phosphonate dianion ion (H 2 O 3 P + ). The structures of these nine fragment ions are supplied in Table S5.…”

“…Functional group-dependent screening was based on nine feature fragment ions of OPEs reported in previous studies. 22,23 The structures of these nine fragment ions are supplied in Table S5.…”

“…Although plentiful information on OPE occurrence in the environment and exposure effects in organisms has been obtained on the basis of this strategy, screening and identification of unknown or novel OPEs cannot be accomplished via a targeted strategy. Recently, advances in suspect screening based on high-resolution mass spectrometry have provided an opportunity to comprehensively identify and assess unknown pollutants in the environment, and these screening methods have been applied in aquatic environments or household dust. , For instance, a novel functional group-dependent screening method has been developed for the identification of potential OPEs in indoor dust, , and this method provided opportunities to identify novel OPEs or OPE-like chemicals, i.e., bis-(2-ethylhexyl)-phenyl phosphate (BEHPP) . However, there are no integrated strategies that could provide the potential to screen out all OPEs in the environment.…”

Discovery and Identification of Arsenolipids Using a Precursor-Finder Strategy and Data-Independent Mass Spectrometry

“…Data-independent acquisition (DIA) is a tandem MS/MS method in which all the ions within a selected m/z range are fragmented, and all the produced fragments are analyzed. This full-coverage and nontargeted technique can overcome the bias in the selection of precursors. − …”

Identifying Citric Acid Esters, a Class of Phthalate Substitute Plasticizers, in Indoor Dust via an Integrated Target, Suspect, and Characteristic Fragment-Dependent Screening Strategy

“…Current information on the indoor environmental occurrence of CAEs suggests that CAEs are ubiquitous in indoor dust samples with high detection frequencies and contamination levels. − For instance, Christia et al analyzed two commonly used CAEs, namely, acetyl triethyl citrate (ATEC) and tributyl- O -acetyl citrate (ATBC), in n = 54 dust samples collected from Belgium, The Netherlands, Ireland, and Sweden and found that ATBC was detectable in all analyzed samples with a concentration range of 220–119,000 ng/g . Subedi et al determined the concentrations of both phthalate and nonphthalate plasticizers in n = 28 dust samples from three different indoor environments across the United States and reported that ATBC accounted for 49% of the total loads of all measured plasticizers .…”