stable chemical bonds to polymer, they can migrate easily from these products into
the environment and pollute food, water, and air. Through drinking, digestion, and
inhalation, the phthalates in the environment can easily enter into the human body
and bioaccumulate in the adipose tissue. The rivers, lakes, seas, even drinking water,
and rainwater around the world have been detected with phthalates. The epidemiological and laboratory evidence has shown their adverse effects on human health
which leads to widespread concern all over the world. There have been numerous
reports on their analytical methods in water samples in the past decade, which is
beneficial to the accurate evaluation of their potential risk to human health, and their
pollution trend predication and remediation effect assessment. The sample treatment
methods of phthalates in water samples mainly include liquid-liquid extraction,
liquid-liquid microextraction, solid-phase extraction, solid-phase microextraction,
and their derivative techniques. The separation and detection methods are mainly gas
chromatography with flame ionization detection or mass spectrometric detection,
high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection or mass spectrometric detection. Owing to the ubiquity of phthalates in the environment, strict
prevention measures should be taken during the analysis of phthalates.
In the future, except for the development of novel adsorption materials for
extraction of trace phthalates in water, the application of carbon nanotubes, magnetic
carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide, electrospun nanofibers will be further exploited.
In addition to the highly sensitive gas and liquid chromatography coupled with a
high-resolution mass spectrometer, it is also necessary to develop new analytical
techniques that are capable of on-line or on-site detection, such as miscellaneous
biosensors, micro-total analysis system, surface-enhanced Raman scattering system,
and surface plasmon resonance system.
Keywords Phthalates · Water · Sample treatment · Analytical method
15.1 Introduction
Phthalates, also known as phthalate esters, generally refers to the esters formed from
phthalic acids and the alcohols with 1 to 14 carbon atoms. Since the 1920s, they have
been produced and added in plastics such as polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene
terephthalate, polyvinyl acetates and polyethylene to enhance the suppleness, flexibility and longevity of the plastics. Approximately 8.4 million tonnes of phthalates
were produced globally each year, and China was the single-largest plasticizer
market in the world, accounting for nearly 42% of world consumption in 2017.
(https://ihsmarkit.com/products/plasticizers-chemical-economics-handbook.html).
Except for the production of plastics and the related products such as food packaging
materials, medical blood bags, toys, hoses, floors, wallpapers, phthalates are also
used for production of detergents, lubricants and personal care products such as nail
540
C. Sun et al.
the environment and pollute food, water, and air. Through drinking, digestion, and
inhalation, the phthalates in the environment can easily enter into the human body
and bioaccumulate in the adipose tissue. The rivers, lakes, seas, even drinking water,
and rainwater around the world have been detected with phthalates. The epidemiological and laboratory evidence has shown their adverse effects on human health
which leads to widespread concern all over the world. There have been numerous
reports on their analytical methods in water samples in the past decade, which is
beneficial to the accurate evaluation of their potential risk to human health, and their
pollution trend predication and remediation effect assessment. The sample treatment
methods of phthalates in water samples mainly include liquid-liquid extraction,
liquid-liquid microextraction, solid-phase extraction, solid-phase microextraction,
and their derivative techniques. The separation and detection methods are mainly gas
chromatography with flame ionization detection or mass spectrometric detection,
high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection or mass spectrometric detection. Owing to the ubiquity of phthalates in the environment, strict
prevention measures should be taken during the analysis of phthalates.
In the future, except for the development of novel adsorption materials for
extraction of trace phthalates in water, the application of carbon nanotubes, magnetic
carbon nanotubes, graphene oxide, electrospun nanofibers will be further exploited.
In addition to the highly sensitive gas and liquid chromatography coupled with a
high-resolution mass spectrometer, it is also necessary to develop new analytical
techniques that are capable of on-line or on-site detection, such as miscellaneous
biosensors, micro-total analysis system, surface-enhanced Raman scattering system,
and surface plasmon resonance system.
Keywords Phthalates · Water · Sample treatment · Analytical method
15.1 Introduction
Phthalates, also known as phthalate esters, generally refers to the esters formed from
phthalic acids and the alcohols with 1 to 14 carbon atoms. Since the 1920s, they have
been produced and added in plastics such as polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene
terephthalate, polyvinyl acetates and polyethylene to enhance the suppleness, flexibility and longevity of the plastics. Approximately 8.4 million tonnes of phthalates
were produced globally each year, and China was the single-largest plasticizer
market in the world, accounting for nearly 42% of world consumption in 2017.
(https://ihsmarkit.com/products/plasticizers-chemical-economics-handbook.html).
Except for the production of plastics and the related products such as food packaging
materials, medical blood bags, toys, hoses, floors, wallpapers, phthalates are also
used for production of detergents, lubricants and personal care products such as nail
540
C. Sun et al.