Development of Rapid Determination of 18 Phthalate Esters in Edible Vegetable Oils by Gas Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

A simultaneous and fast determination of 18 phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in edible vegetable oils was developed. After solvent extraction, the PAEs in the oil sample were further cleaned up by solid-phase extraction. After concentration, the extract was directly injected into gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) in positive-ion electron impact (El) mode. Method quantification limits of 18 PAEs were between 0.01 and 0.1 mg/kg. Quantitative recoveries ranging from 63.9 to 115.3% were obtained by analysis of spiked oil. The relative standard deviations were less than 15% (n = 6). The method could potentially overcome the interference from large amounts of lipids and pigment. It was applied to real sample and shown to be a rapid and reliable alternative for determination and confirmation of PAEs in routine analysis.