Non-targeted analysis of odor components and hazardous volatiles in children's raincoats

Given the widespread use of children's raincoats and their close contact with children and students, it is crucial to identify the odor components and potential chemical hazards associated with these products. In this study, 128 volatiles were identified in 28 raincoats by gas chromatography-Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrum non-targeted screening. The 40 significantly different substances were recognized by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), while the characteristic substances in three materials of raincoats were determined through clustering heat map and Venn diagram. Of the 128 volatiles, 32 had associated odor descriptions and 27 had known odor thresholds. By analyzing the distribution and contribution of odorants, isophorone, phenol and naphthalene were found to be the dominant odorants in the raincoats. The proposed risk prioritization scheme quantitatively scored and ranked the substances based on detection rate, average peak area, and hazardousness, leading to the rapid identification of 13 high-risk substances. The quantitative results showed that the levels of these substances in raincoats ranged from <LOQ to 507.26 mg/kg. Correlation analysis showed that some high-risk substances coexist in the sample with highly significant correlations, possibly due to common raw materials or production processes. This study provides a good reference for odor tracing and precise control of chemical risks in products.