DESENVOLVIMENTO DE MÉTODO ANALÍTICO POR CROMATOGRAFIA LÍQUIDA PARA DETERMINAÇÃO DE FTALATOS EM PLÁSTICOS

Abstract

Phthalates are plasticizers used in polymers to make them softer, pliable and are also suspected to have carcinogenic and estrogenic properties. For this reason it is important to determine these compounds in various environmental samples to assess the environmental risks they may entail. Therefore, this study aims to develop an analytical methodology for investigating the presence of phthalates in baby bottles and bottles of natural mineral water using HPLC-UV-VIS. Thus, the study began with the optimization of the chromatographic conditions for determining the phthalate following: Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diethyl phthalate (DEP) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in which separation was performed isocratic and gradient mode, flow of 1.00 mL minˉ¹, λ = 225 nm. The method employed the solid phase extraction, for which several adsorbents were tested in order to obtain recovery values within the range considered appropriate. Thus, only the values of DEP showed 93-95% recovery using the cartridge octadecylsilane (C18). The values of Limits of Detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of the method for testing with DEP were 0.270 μg ∙ Lˉ¹ (LOD) and 1.00 μg ∙ Lˉ¹ (LOQ). Therefore, we applied the method developed for determining the DEP samples in bottles and bottles of mineral water natural brands sold in São Luís - MA. The results showed that for samples, no peaks were identified for the DEP, but the method developed for the analysis of phthalate presents advantages regarding the time of analysis, economy solvent, in addition to precise, accurate and sensitive. Therefore, it is suggested in another study using more sensitive detectors in order to quantify the lowest level DEP capable of causing inconvenience to living organisms.