The Identification of 2-Phenoxyethanol in Ballpoint Inks Using Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry—Relevance to Ink Dating

Abstract

Developing and implementing a generally accepted procedure for the dating of ink found on documents using dynamic approaches has been a very formidable undertaking by forensic document examiners. 2-Phenoxyethanol (PE), a common volatile organic compound found in ballpoint inks, has been recognized for over a decade as a solvent that evaporates as ink ages. More recently, investigations have focused on the solvent loss ratio of PE prior to and after heating. To determine how often PE occurs in ink formulations, the authors analyzed 633 ballpoint inks utilizing a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. 2-Phenoxyethanol was identified in 85% (237/279) and 83% (293/354) of black and blue inks, respectively.

A GC/MS study of the drying of ballpoint pen ink on paper

“…The present study focuses on a ballpoint pen containing phenoxyethanol as major component among other solvents. This substance is found in over 80% of the blue and black ballpoint pens [25] and its disappearance from ink entries was studied in previous work [10,12,14,22]. The support of the ink entry clearly has an additional effect on ink drying, but a study of its parameters (paper pH, surface finish, fibre finish, coating, etc.)…”

Analysis of black writing ink by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

“…The ballpoint inks predominately contained basic violet 1, acid yellow 36 and 2-phenoxyethanol, which appear to be absent from most gel and rollerball inks. 2-Phenoxyethanol (161 m/z) is a volatile organic compound used as the principal solvent in many ballpoint ink formulations [10]. Benzotriazole (142 m/z), which is used as a rust preventive in gel ink formulations, was tentatively identified in all of the gel inks and 4 of the rollerball inks.…”

“…Ink formulations have also been distinguished from one another by CE with a UV absorption diode array detector [5][6][7]. More volatile vehicles within ink formulations have been analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [8][9][10].…”

Simultaneous Determination of Alkoxyalcohols in Wet Wipes Using Static Headspace Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry

“…[20][21][22] Moreover, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method has been described as the determination of 2-phenoxyethanol in ballpoint inks. 23 Recently, the method using micellar electrokinetic chromatography has been reported. 24 Alkoxyalcohols that have relatively lower boiling points and higher vapor pressures Abbreviation: 2-methoxyethanol (2MeEtOH), 2-ethoxyethanol (EtEtOH), 2-propoxyethanol (2PrEtOH), 2-phenoxyethanol (2PhEtOH), 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethanol (2(2BuEt)EtOH), 1-methoxy-2-propanol (Me2PrOH), 1-ethoxy-2-propanol (Et2PrOH), 1-propoxy-2-propanol (Pr2PrOH), 1-butoxy-2-propanol (Bu2PrOH), 1-phenoxy-2-propanol (Ph2PrOH), 1-(2-butoxy-1-methylethoxy)-2-propanol (1(2BuMEEt) 2PrOH), (2-methoxymethylethoxy)propanol ((2MeMEEt)PrOH), 3-ethoxy-1-propanol (3EtPrOH), 3-methyl-3-methoxybutanol (3ME3MeBuOH) than 2-phenoxyethanol were analyzed by GC-MS. 25,26 However, the analytical samples must be diluted frequently using various organic solvents such as ethanol because of the matrix effect.…”