Rapid Screening by GC/MSD in Under Six Minutes

Workflow for phthalates in plastics

The Agilent Intuvo 9000/5977B GC/MSD system provides a fast-screening workflow for the qualitative detection of phthalates in plastics. This method used a GC oven with direct heating technology and MS spectral deconvolution. Phthalates were extracted from two real-world plastic samples by immersing a cut piece in acetone for 30 seconds. The extract was then injected onto the GC/MSD system. The direct heating oven allowed a high-temperature program rate of 250°C/min, enabling the completion of the GC/MS analysis in 3.4 minutes.

This workflow provided rapid identification of phthalates present in the plastic. The user-created library of pesticides and environmental pollutants and the NIST 17 spectral library were used for compound identification. The entire analysis from sample collection to reporting took under six minutes. This approach is particularly useful for prioritizing samples for more in-depth analysis.