Headspace GC-MS for the determination of halogenated hydrocarbons, ethers and aromatic volatiles in fabric and leather

International audience; The content of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was required in industrial products. Now, it is also sought in household products. The detrimental impact of VOCs on air quality and human health pushed state authorities to take measures to reduce their emissions and occurrence in circulating goods. A set of 28 VOCs including 20 halogenated alkyl and aromatic compounds, two ethers and six hydrocarbons was built as a model of most VOCs possibly encountered in leather and textile commercial products. A variety of leather and textile matrices were spiked with known amounts of the VOC mix. It is shown that the headspace (HS) extraction must last for 45 min at 90 degrees C to reach full recovery of the least volatile compounds (1,2-diclorobenzene) even if 80% and more recovery is obtained in 5 min at 90 degrees C for all 28 VOCs contained in 20 mg amounts of leather or textile samples. The single ion-monitoring (SIM) mode of the mass spectrometer was needed to quantitate several VOCs overlapping in the GC chromatogram. The HS GC-MS method produced a statistically validated limit of quantification of 2.5 mg/kg (ppm) for all 28 VOCs analyzed.