Our research paper entitled "Determination of phthalate esters in physiological saline solution by monolithic silica spin column extraction method" by Lu Lu, Yuki Hashi, Zhihua Wang, Yuan Ma and Jin-Ming Lin, Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis,2011,1(2), 92-99, has been awarded the 2011 JPA Prize.

In this work, Six phthalates including dimethyl-(DMP), diethyl-(DEP), dipropyl-[DPrP], butyl-benzyl-(BBP), dicyclohexyl-(DcHP), and di-n-octyl-(DOP) phthalate in physiological saline samples were identified and quantified by monolithic silica spin column extraction followed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method. C18 bonded monolithic silica spin column was employed in the work. C18 cartridge was used for enrichment of all target phthalates from the polar impurities. In the optimized condition, this method was used to verify the presence of the target analytes in physiological saline samples. Some estrogens were detected in the physiological saline samples in plastic package. The achieved results demonstrated that a lot of concern should be addressed about the potential risk of the present of phthalates in physiological saline.

Journal website: http://ees.elsevier.com/jpa