title: Direct analysis of phthalate ester biomarkers in urine without preconcentration: method validation and monitoring.
abstract: Phthalates, which are ubiquitous in the environment, are readily metabolized in human bodies to their respective monoesters. These phthalate monoesters are non-persistent with short half-lives, which make them the ideal biomarkers of human exposure to phthalates. In this study a direct analysis method without preconcentration was developed and validated for the following phthalate ester metabolites in urine: mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate, mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl)phthalate, monobenzyl phthalate, mono-isobutylphthalate, mono-n-butyl phthalate and monoethyl phthalate. The recovery of the phthalate ester metabolites varied between 97% and 104%. The intraday precision for the replicate analysis (n=10) of a urine sample did not exceed 5% for most of the compounds. The coefficient of variance amounted to 2-3%. The limit of quantification was set equal to 0.5μg/L for the majority of the compounds. A comparison between the direct analysis method and a foregoing solid phase extraction (SPE) of the urine sample was made. Finally, the applicability of the direct analysis method was tested in three interlaboratory comparisons.
authors: Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Unit Environmental Analysis and Technology, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium. kelly.servaes@vito.be
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Servaes
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Voorspoels
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Lievens
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Noten
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Allaerts
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Van De Weghe
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Vanermen
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000652:urine*; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010795:Phthalic Acids