The concentrations of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, and n-butyraldehyde in water were quantitatively determined by head space-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS). Aqueous aldehydes were treated with o- (2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)-hydroxylamine (PFBOA) in a sealed vial at 60°C for 60 min. Head space was then analyzed by GC/MS. In comparison with electron ionization (EI) mass spectra, negative chemical ionization (NCI) mass spectra of PFBOA derivatives gave more spectral peaks of structural origin and with simple, characteristic fragmentation patterns. HS-GC/MS is highly sensitive for aqueous aldehydes because it eliminates interference from the water sample. The concentrations of various aldehydes in tap water and commercial mineral water were determined by HS-GC/MS. The following concentration ranges were detected for the individual alde

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We established an analytical method for the detection of seven phthalates, dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate (DEP), benzyl butyl phthalate, di-i-butyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), and din-octhyl phthalate, using an ultra high performance liquid chromatograph equipped with a photodiode array detector. This method is quick, with minimal contamination, and was applied to the analysis of aromatic and deodorant aerosol products. Phthalates were detected in 15 of 52 samples purchased from 1999 to 2012 in Yokohama. Three types of phthalate (DEP, DBP, DEHP) were detected, and their concentrations ranged from 0.0085 0.23％ DEP in nine samples, 0.012 0.045％ DBP in four samples, and 0.012 0.033％ DEHP in four samples. No other phthalate esters were detected. Furthermore, we estimated phthalate exposure via breathing in commonly used aromatic and deodorant aerosol products, then evaluated the associated risk. The estimated levels of phthalate exposure were lower than the tolerated daily limit, but the results indicated that aromatic and deodorant aerosol products could be a signiˆcant source of phthalate exposure.

The chemical structures of individual isomers present in a mixture of 4-nonylphenol have recently been clarified, and differences in estrogen activity due to differences in the structure have been reported. Considering the importance of investigations of the chemical structure of 4-nonylphenol contained in commonly used synthetic resin products, we investigated an analytical method of individual isomers of 4-nonylphenol using positive chemical ionization-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (PCI-GC/MS). Furthermore, we established a highly sensitive simultaneous analysis method using PCI-GC/MS [selected ion monitoring (SIM)], in which 4-alkylphenol and bisphenol A were extracted using a simple dissolution method without pretreatment such as solid-phase extraction and derivatized by trimethylsilylation.

Investigation of the amounts of chemical substances excreted into environments is important in the consideration of their influence on humans and other biologics. We performed this study to investigate the excretion levels of 4-alkylphenols, represented by the endocrine disruptors 4-octylphenol and 4-nonylphenol, from chemical products and established a simultaneous analytical method in which 4-alkylphenols were trimethylsilylated and analyzed using head-space gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS). This is a simple and innovative method that proceeds to derivatization with a one-step procedure and dissolves the whole sample as well as eliminates impurities interfering with analysis. When this method was applied to synthetic resin products, 4-nonylphenol (detection limit 0.5 µg/ml) was rapidly and simply analyzed with high sensitivity.