Determination Of Phthalates In Selected Loom Bands Marketed In Kepala Batas
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Date
2015-08
Authors
Mat Duwi, Nurul Hidayah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Three phthalates esters (PEs); benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) had been regulated by European Union to a limit of less than 0.1% in all imported toys and articles. PEs were reported to cause adverse effects on human health and suspected to be an estrogen disruptor. There are new invention of toys have been introduced known as loom band. United Kingdom had banned the loom bands from the market due to high level of phthalate concentration been detected. However, there is no data available yet about the concentration of phthalates inside the loom bands that is marketed in Malaysia. In this study, seven (7) samples of loom bands were obtained from markets in Kepala Batas, Pulau Pinang. Gas chromatography– Mass Spectrometry (GC- MS) was used to analyse the PEs content in the sample. Five (5) types of phthalate esters of BBP, DBP, DEHP, dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and diethyl phthalate (DEP) were used as the reference standard. The samples were extracted in accordance to the method that was established by Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Loom bands were dissolved in tetrahydrofuran. Three out of seven samples was found to contain an acceptable level of BBP and DEHP at a percentage of 0.02 %. The concentration BBP and DEHP were in the ranged of 0.15- 0.2 μg/mL. An organic species known as butylated hyroxytoluene was detected in the sample. The presence of phthalate inside the samples with a low percentage was suspected due to the contamination process.
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Keywords
Phthalates