Abstract

N-Alkyl-2-pyrrolidones such as N-methyl- and N-ethyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP and NEP) are widely used as solvents in leather finishing agents. However, NMP and NEP were identified as reproductive toxicants. Moreover, NMP has been listed in the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) by European Chemicals Agency. Herein, we have developed a simple and rapid gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of NMP and NEP in leather samples. The extraction solvent, methods and time have been comparatively investigated and optimized for enhancing the extraction efficiency of NMP and NEP in samples. Under optimal extraction and GC-MS conditions, the linear range of both NMP and NEP were between 0.5 and 100mg L-1 with regression coefficients (R2) of 0.999. The Relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) for ten replications of analysis was 2.6% and 2.8% for NMP and NEP, respectively. And limit of detection (LOD) for NMP and NEP were both 0.1mg/kg. In leather samples the mean recoveries were 94.8%-105.6% and 98.5%- 105.2% for NMP and NEP, respectively. The proposed method has been proved to be applicable for the simultaneous determination of the target NMP and NEP in leather samples.