DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTI-SPECTRAL SCHEME FOR IDENTIFYING DYES AND THEIR TOXICOLOGICAL PROPERTIES

Abstract

The synthetic dye industry, one of the largest chemical sectors in the global market, was worth $31.9 billion dollars in 2019.1 With wide applicability in the food, textile, and cosmetic sectors, synthetic dyes are heavily regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to the harmful carcinogenic effects of specific dyes. Many countries, including the U.S., those in European Union, and Japan differ on the accepted dyes for usage. A surge in recreational activities has caused an increase in synthetic color powders used for events, specifically the Color Run races. Due to Internet commerce and a lack of regulatory oversight, a wide variety of color powders can be obtained quickly and cheaply from overseas; some of these foreign sources may contain unapproved toxic dyes. Among the myriad dyes used in industry, minor modifications in the functional groups often lead to new dyes of varying shades/colors. Effective analysis of similar dye structures requires a wide range of analytical instrumentation. Two unknown color powder samples labelled as CC Red and India Green were donated from a color run race in Florida. Through the positive dye identification of CC Red and India Green using mass spectrometry, elemental analysis, and optical spectroscopy, this study evaluates the development of a multispectral scheme for dye identification. The identification of toxic compounds from water leaching can provide insight on how dyes can contaminate the aquatic ecosystem via industrial wastewater discharge.