Fate of Phthalic Acid Esters (PAEs) in Typical Greenhouse Soils of Different Cultivation Ages

Abstract

An ultrasonic-assisted extraction methodology coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometer analytical technique was used to determine concentration of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in typical greenhouse soil. The results showed that the developed method has a reliable recovery rate (80.78%–112.89%) and a low detection limit (10− 4 mg/kg) which met the requirements of residue determination. The analysis of 32 soil samples revealed that except for dimethyl phthalate, the concentration of other five PAEs was detected and followed the sequence di-(2-ethylhcxyl) phthalate > dibutyl phthalate > di-n-octyl phthalate > butylbenz phthalate > diethyl phthalate. Σ6PAEs concentrations ranged from 136.91 to 1121.74 µg/kg (mean 319.59 µg/kg). PAEs was closely correlated with soil pH and organic matter, but not with cultivation ages which indicates that the increase of cultivation age is not the main reason for the change of soil PAEs concentration.