Simultaneous quantitation of parabens, triclosan, and methyl triclosan in indoor house dust using solid phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

An integrated analytical method for the simultaneous determination of five parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, and benzyl-), triclosan, and methyl triclosan in indoor house dust was developed based on gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric technique (GC/MS). Analytes were extracted from dust samples by sonication. After sample cleanup by solid-phase extraction (SPE), the extracts were derivatized with N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) and then analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with ion trap mass spectrometry operated in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. For quantitation, isotope-labelled internal standards were used for each corresponding target analyte. Only 0.05 g of dust sample was needed for the analysis. Method detection limits ranged from 6.5 to 10 ng/g, and absolute recoveries from 74% to 92%. The developed method demonstrated good repeatability and reproducibility, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 16% for all the analytes. The analytes were determined in dust samples collected using two vacuum sampling methods from 63 Canadian homes: a sample of fresh or "active" dust (FD) collected using a Pullman-Holt vacuum sampler, and a composite sample taken from the household vacuum cleaner (HD). Methyl paraben, propyl paraben, and triclosan were detected in all HD and FD samples. HD samples yielded median values for methyl paraben, propyl paraben, and triclosan of 1080, 463, and 378 ng/g, respectively, which were comparable to the FD sample medians of 1120, 618 and 571 ng/g. Ethyl paraben was detected at frequencies of 89% in FD and 73% in HD samples, with median values of 52 and 25 ng/g, respectively. Butyl paraben was detected at frequencies of 44% in FD and 75% in HD samples, with median values of <10 and 59 ng/g, respectively. Benzyl paraben and methyl triclosan were not detected in any of the samples collected by either method. Samples collected according to the fresh dust protocol agreed with the household vacuum samples 90% of the time. Widely scattered concentration levels were observed for target analytes from this preliminary set of 63 Canadian samples, which suggests a wide variability in Canadian household exposures to these chemicals.

Determination of synthetic musk compounds in indoor house dust by gas chromatography–ion trap mass spectrometry

“…Two types of house dust samples were collected from randomly selected, urban, Canadian single family dwellings under the Canadian House Dust Study according to the procedures described previously [25,26] and briefly summarized here. Household vacuum dust (HD) samples were obtained from the vacuum systems used by the study participants as part of their regular house cleaning routine.…”

Parabens in 24h urine samples of the German Environmental Specimen Bank from 1995 to 2012

“…The widespread use of parabens, their presence in personal care products, in foodstuff and in other niche applications, results in their ubiquitous occurrence in the environment. Parabens were detected in surface waters, sediments, as well as in indoor air and dust (Kasprzyk-Hordern et al, 2008;González-Mariño et al, 2009;Viglino et al, 2011;Pérez et al, 2012;Rudel et al, 2003;Wang et al, 2012;Fan et al, 2010). This results in a variety of exposure routes, i.e., dermal absorption, ingestion, and inhalation.…”

Considerations for estimating daily intake values of nonpersistent environmental endocrine disruptors based on urinary biomonitoring data

“…With humans being exposed to TCS from a variety of products and via different routes of exposure (oral and dermal and possibly also through dust (Fan et al 2010)) with different grades of absorption, the bioavailable dose (free TCS in plasma), however, is hard to estimate based on urinary measurements due to likely differences in metabolism and avoidance of first-pass metabolism dependent of the routes of exposure.…”