DETERMINATION OF PHTHALATES RESIDUES IN COMMERCIAL MILK PRODUCTS USING HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

S.V.A.R. SASTRY¹, C.V.R. MURTHY^2
1Department of Chemical Engineering, M.V.G.R. College of Engineering, Vizianagaram- 535 005, AP, India.
²Department of Chemical Engineering, A.U. College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam- 530 003, AP, India.

Received : 03-11-2013     Accepted : 13-03-2014     Published : 10-07-2014
Volume : 2     Issue : 1       Pages : 50 - 52
World Res J Biotechnol 2.1 (2014):50-52

Keywords : Plasticizers, endocrine disruptors, DMP, DBP
Conflict of Interest : None declared

A multi-residue method was developed for the confirmation and quantitation of phthalates in milk using high Performance Liquid Chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectroscopy (HPLC-ESI-MS-MS). Phthalates are used as plasticizers to improve the processing of plastics, their flexibility or elasticity by decreasing the glass transition temperature of the respective polymers. Phthalates are potentially hazardous to human health-especially to children’s health-due due their classification as endocrine disruptors. This has resulted in regulations regarding the types and levels of phthalates allowable in plastic toys, water containers, textiles and foods. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile. The analytes were separated using a 0.1% formic acid-methanol system as the mobile phase, and a linear gradient elution program. Mass spectral acquisition was achieved by selectively monitoring the ions in electro-spray ionization mode. Qualitative analysis was based on the retention time and the mass spectrum results. This method has the merits of convenient operation, high sensitivity, and good repeatability, making it an effective method for analysis of phthalates in milk. And the proposed analytical method has been applied to the analysis of phthalates presented in four commercial milk products. The main phthalate residues were DBP (di-butyl phthalates) and DMP (di-methyl phthalates). And the amount of DBP was found to be more than 100 μg/kg in all this milk products. Materials and PVC plastics. They are ubiquitously used as plasticizers to improve flexibility, elasticity in a broad range of plastic products. Phthalates are chemically bounded with non-covalent bond in the plastics, so they can be easily released into the environment. The general population may be exposed to them via ingestion, inhalation and absorption. Most of the toxicological investigations were performed with rats, mice and other rodents. These animal species seem to be more sensitive to toxic effects of phthalates than humans. The critical organs are liver, kidney and testis. For some wild animals it has been found that di-butyl phthalates may act as endocrine disruptors thus influencing reproduction. Due to their potential hazards and wide usage, the European Union has imposed an emergency restriction on the use of 6 phthalates (DBP, BBP, DEHP, DOP, DINP, and DIDP) in the production of items intended for children in the age group of 0-3 years. Analytical methods have been published for determination of phthalates in a very broad range of matrices. The analysis of phthalic acid diesters is mostly carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detection, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). LC-MS, LC-MS-MS and other analyses. Phthalate contamination, a major problem in phthalate analysis, including sample preparation and chromatographic analysis. Generally, glassware and organic solvents are the most important sources of contamination.