Social and economic interest in the control of phthalic acid esters

Excessive use of phthalate esters in industrial applications, mainly as plasticizers, has given rise to their persistent presence in consumer goods, and has raised numerous questions about their possible health effects or damage to the environment. This article presents an overview of the economic and social interest in the control of phthalate esters and in the availability of analytical methodologies for areas such as environmental and food analyses. It discusses potential contamination of the samples, usefulness of chromatographic techniques, generally after pre-treatment steps, and rare attempts to propose alternative techniques. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.