Development of LC/MS/MS Method for Screening and Quantitation of 47 Synthetic Dyes under Restricted Substance List in Textiles

Synthetic dyes such as azodyes and disperse dyes are widely used in the manufacture of various consumer products such as textiles, leather, toys and plastics. Many of these dyes are allergenic that may cause contact dermatitis and others are carcinogenic. Many synthetic dyes using in textiles and apparels are listed in the RSL for protection of the consumers.
Legislations such as EU 2002/371/EC and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 were introduced to ban the use of carcinogenic dyes and restrict the amount of allergenic dyes allowed in textile making and consumer products. Various analysis methods using HPLC, TLC and LC/MS/MS are reported. We describe a fast and high sensitivity LC/MS/MS method for screening and quantitation of 47 synthetic dyes including 23 azodyes, 21 disperse dyes and 3 basic dyes in textile samples.