Simultaneous determination of 17 phthalate esters in edible vegetable oils by GC ‐ MS with silica/ PSA ‐mixed solid‐phase extraction

A quantified method for the determination of 17 phthalate esters ( PAE s) in edible vegetable oil by GC ‐ MS with the pretreatment of acetonitrile extraction and silica/ N ‐( n ‐ P ropyl)ethylenediamine‐mixed SPE column was established. By the quantification of internal standard of D 4 ‐ d i(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate, a good linearity range of related 17 PAE s was observed. The correlation coefficient was ranged at 0.994∼1.000, and the standard lowest quantified level was 0.05∼0.15 mg/L. The spiking recoveries of 17 PAE s were 78.3∼108.9% with the relative standard deviations of 4.3∼12.1% ( n = 6). The method detection limits were 0.1∼0.2 mg/kg. Meanwhile, PAE s were determined in 30 plastic buckets of edible vegetable oil from supermarkets in H angzhou city of C hina. The survey of 30 oil samples showed d i(2‐ethylhexyl) phthalate ( DEHP ) had the 100% (30/30) detection rate. The levels of d iisobutyl phthalate with 86.7% (26:30), d i‐ n ‐butyl phthalate ( DBP ) with 70% (21:30) and d iethyl phthalate with 10% (3:30) were detected. It was worth note that DBP with 16.7% (5:30) samples and DEHP with 10% (3:30) samples were beyond the regular migrating limit, which indicated that more attention should be paid to the PAE s in oil with plastic package.