Determination of semi- and non-volatile organic compounds in settled house dust

Semi-volatile and non-volatile organic compounds in settled house dust were investigated. Three house dust samples were collected from typical Japanese homes by using vacuum cleaner. Samples were stepwise extracted by three different organic solvents. Extracts were measured by GC/MS with different film columns, GC/MS after methyl ester derivatization, MALDI-TOF/MS, FD/MS and LC/MS. The extracts were almost equal to each other, although occupants and lifestyle were different in each. Fatty acid, fatty acid ester with longer alkyl group, and cholesterol were mainly detected from each sample. This pattern is similar to sebaceous. On the other hand, phthalate esters, phosphate esters, plastic additives, other plastic-related chemicals and dye such as indigo were also detected from house dust.