Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS)

• GC/MS is used for detailed organic material analysis, including reverse engineering of multicomponent systems.
• Quantitative, if appropriate standards are included.
• Polymeric solids can be prepared with Soxhlet extraction apparatus.

Quantitative Phthalate Analysis

Many plastics have added phthalates as a softener. Generally, the concentration of phthalates in these materials is quite low, but there is continuing concern about these compounds by regulatory agencies. A substantial study was conducted to determine the lower limit of detection for a series of phthalate compounds. The figures show GC/MS scans for one of the phthalates along with the quantitative analysis plots for each of them. GC/MS is able to quantitatively detect all of these phthalates to 5ppb, with a lowest limit of detection of approximately 1 ppb.