Ultrasound-assisted Low Density Solvent Based Dispersive Liquid-liquid Microextraction for Determination of Phthalate Esters in Bottled Water Samples

A technique of ultrasound-assisted low density solvent based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction was developed for the determination of four phthalate esters, including dimethyl phthalate(DMP), diethyl phthalate(DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate(DnBP) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate(DEHP) in bottled water samples. A low density solvent, toluene, was selected as extraction solvent. In the extraction process, a mixture of 15 mu L of toluene(extraction solvent) and 100 mu L of methanol(disperser solvent) was rapidly injected into 1.0 mL of water samples. A cloudy solution was formed after ultrasounded for 5 min, and then centrifuged at 5000 r/min for 5 min. The enriched analytes in the floating phase were determined by means of gas chromatograph. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factors were found to be in a range of 29-67, and the recoveries were ranged from 81.2% to 103.9%. The limits of the detection were in a range of 3.8-5.6 mu g/L. The proposed method was applied to the extraction and determination of phthalate esters in bottled water samples, and the concentrations of phthalate esters found in the water samples were below the allowable levels.