Development of Novel Instrumentation and Methodologies for Particulate Bound Phthalate Measurements

Presented is the development of a method to generate reproducible gaseous phthalate standards, a setup for generating airborne particulate matter and a membrane introduction mass spectrometry system suitable for the online measurement of gaseous phthalates. Upon development of appropriate standards and instrumentation, particulate-phthalate adsorption/desorption experiments were performed using dimethyl phthalate and two particulate species. Initial adsorption/desorption experiments were conducted using C18 coated silica particles, followed by further experimentation with house dust particles. Results from the development stages of the gas phase standards, the membrane introduction mass spectrometry system and phthalate adsorption/desorption experiments are presented.