Simultaneous determination of 23 ester compounds in cigarette water-borne adhesives by liquid-liquid extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

A method of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with liquid-liquid extraction has been developed for the simultaneous determination of 23 ester compounds including acetate esters, acrylic esters, metacrylic acid esters and phthalate acid esters in cigarette water-borne adhesives. After dispersed in water, the sample was extracted by n-hexane solution containing phenyl ethyl propionate as internal standard substance. Then, the solution was centrifuged and filtrated through a 0.45 microm organic membrane filter. Finally, the solution was separated on a DB-WAXETR column (60 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 microm), and detected with MS in selected ion monitoring mode, and quantified by internal standard method. The results showed a good linear correlation in the range of 0.4-50.0 mg/L. The recoveries of the ester compounds spiked in the sample were 81.8%-109.1%, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs, n = 5) were less than 4%. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs were in the ranges of 0.02-0.76 mg/kg and 0.04-2.52 mg/kg, respectively. The method is simple, time-saving, and has high sensitivity and good reproducibility. It can be applied to the determination of the 23 ester compounds in cigarette water-borne adhesives.