Determination of organophosphate triesters in indoor air

In this thesis methods concerning sampling and analysis of organophosphorus triesters in indoor environments are investigated. Organophosphate esters are widely used as plasticizers and flame-retardants in plastic materials, which in turn are extensively used in all indoor environments. The organophosphates are ubiquitous indoor pollutants and humans will consequently be exposed to them. Some of which have been reported to have toxic effects. SPE cartridges were used for sampling of organophosphate triesters in indoor air by adsorptive enrichment. This method is fast and simple compared to traditional filter/adsorption methods which are time consuming due to the manual handling steps required. The method was optimized for the sampling and analysis of organophosphate triesters using a 25 mg aminopropyl silica SPE cartridge. The very same cartridge was used for both active air sampling and subsequent extraction and clean up of the sample. Sampling and extraction efficiencies were high for the investigated organophosphates, and limit of detection was in the range of 0.1 – 0.3 ng/m. Analysis was performed on GC with selective NPD detection, operated in phosphorus mode, as well as by GC-EI-MS. By applying the above method, the occurrence of thirteen organophosphates were investigated at 29 different indoor environments in Stockholm. The most abundant compounds were tris (chloroisopropyl) phosphate and tris (2chloroethyl) phosphate with concentrations as high as 2 μg/m at some locations. A total of 10 organophosphates were determined.