Direct monitoring of the role played by a stabilizer in a solid sample of polymer using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry: the case of Irgafos 168 in polyethylene.

Direct analysis in real time (DART) ionization method is used with a time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer to perform the analysis of industrial polyethylene pellets free of additives or containing Irgafos 168 as stabilizing agent without any sampling step. The developed analytical method uses the [M + H](+) ion of the bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) for performing the exact mass measurements of the stabilizer and polymer ions using the mass drift compensation procedure available on the AccuTOF mass spectrometer. DEHP is in fact a plastic contaminant always presents on the mass spectra of the analyzed samples.