An investigation into possible sources of phthalate contamination in the environmental analytical laboratory.

Abstract

A study of common laboratory equipment and components was performed in order to identify sources of contamination of phthalates prior to testing environmental samples for such compounds. A screening study revealed significant leaching from plastic syringes, pipette tips released maximum leachings of 0.36 g cm-2 diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and 0.86 g cm-2 diisononyl phthalate (DINP), plastic filter holders produced maximum leachings of 2.49 g cm-2 dibutyl phthalate (DBP) from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), 0.61g cm-2 DBP from regenerated cellulose and 5.85 g cm-2 dimethyl phthalate (DMP) from cellulose acetate and Parafilm leaching levels up to 0.50 g cm-2 DEHP. In addition, a high temperature bake-out process was found necessary to eliminate quite high levels of two phthalates present in a commercial bulking agent for pressurised liquid extraction (PLE).