| Abstract: | IR Spectroscopy and Further Analyses of New Fabric Rinse Agents Distearyldimethylammoniumchloride (DSDMAC) that dominated the fabric softener market in Germany in the past is now substituted by three new types of ester-based agents, i.e. imidazoline ester, ester quats, and diester quats what poses new challenges to surface water analytics. The IR spectra and the chromatographic behaviour of these three agents are more or less similar to those of naturally occuring fatty esters. The paper reports about the use of IR spectroscopy, its benefit in the sense of fingerprinting principle, the identification of substances by functional groups, and the analytical tracing of transformation products. The latter relates to the formation of salts with anions that are easily detectable, the clean up, and the final spectroscopic determination. While in 1994 DSDMAC was still determinable in concentrations of 10…20 mg/kg in suspended solids from the Middle Rhine River, the concentration of the substitutes was below the detection limit of 2 mg/kg and 1…2 μg/L in 1995. |
