GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETERMINATION OF PROPYLENE-GLYCOL AND DIETHYLENE GLYCOL ETHERS IN URINE

In order to reduce the health risks in solvent technology, produced by the largely used ethylene glycol ethers, these are getting more and more substituted by glycol ethers derived from propylene glycol. According to the current knowledge these also called 1-alkoxy-2-propanols are to a considerable amount excreted unmetabolized in urine; so these substances themselves might be used for the estimation of health risks. The sensitive analysis consists of a special extraction step using diatomaceous earth. The extract is then concentrated for further gas-chromatographic investigation (FID). Using this technique, 17 in part widely used glycol ethers in urine were determined.