Simple, Rapid Analysis of Ethylene Oxide Using SIFT-MS

Introduction
 

Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a widely used feedstock in the chemical industry (Wikipedia 1), including in the manufacture of polyethylene glycols (PEGs) used as surfactants and emulsifiers perfumes, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. It is also used widely as a sterilant in the pharmaceutical and medical implants industries because it bactericidal, sporicidal, and virucidal, while being compatible with a wide range of biomaterials with which radiation and heat sterilization are incompatible (Qiu et al. (2017)). However, the toxicity is not limited to microbes: it is mutagenic to humans (Aronson (2016)). For this reason, detection of trace ethylene oxide impurities is essential.eneous. The physicochemical characterization of such molecules is very challenging.