Determinations of airborne synthetic musks by polyurethane foam coupled with triple quadrupole gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometer

• Reported an innovative and sensitive analytical method for airborne synthetic musk.
• The multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) database of synthetic musk is updated.
• The level of airborne synthetic musk in a cosmetics plant was evaluated.
• The method is applicable to examine synthetic musk in various types of samples.

Synthetic musk is widely used in various scented consumer products. However, the exposure via inhalation is often ignored due to pleasant smells. In addition, the information regarding the distribution of synthetic musk in air is limited. Hence, this research is aimed to develop a highly sensitive and widely applicable method for the determination of airborne synthetic musk. In this study, polyurethane foam (PUF) and filter were employed for active air sampling. Microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and nitrogen evaporator were performed for sample preparation. A gas chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer (GC/MS–MS) with specific multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) transition pairs was applied for sample analysis. Compared with using selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode traditionally, the sensitivities were improved in this study about an order at least. In terms of air concentration, as low as 0.48 ng m−3 can be determined when sampling at 3.5 L min−1 for 8 h. The method established was further applied to the analysis of synthetic musk compounds in air samples collected in a cosmetics plant. The results showed that the airborne concentrations of gaseous polycyclic musk, gaseous nitro-musk, and particle-phase polycyclic musk were 6.4 × 102, 4.0 × 101 and 3.1 × 102 ng m−3, respectively. Meanwhile, Cashmeran, Celstolide, Galaxolide, and Tonalide were found as the dominant musk compounds in the factory investigated.