Occurrence and Profiles
of Phthalates in Foodstuffs
from China and Their Implications for Human Exposure
- Publication date
- Publisher
Abstract
Phthalate esters are used in a wide variety of consumer
products,
and human exposure to this class of compounds is widespread. Nevertheless,
studies on dietary exposure of humans to phthalates are limited. In
this study, nine phthalate esters were analyzed in eight categories
of foodstuffs (<i>n</i> = 78) collected from Harbin and
Shanghai, China, in 2011. Dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate
(DEP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), benzyl
butyl phthalate (BzBP), and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) were frequently
detected in food samples. DEHP was the major compound found in most
of the food samples, with concentrations that ranged from below the
limit of quantification (LOQ) to 762 ng/g wet weight (wt). The concentrations
of phthalates in food samples from China were comparable to concentrations
reported for several other countries, but the profiles were different;
DMP was found more frequently in Chinese foods than in foods from
other countries. The estimated daily dietary intake of phthalates
(EDI<sub>diet</sub>) was calculated based on the concentrations measured
and the daily ingestion rates of food items. The EDI<sub>diet</sub> values for DMP, DEP, DIBP, DBP, BzBP, and DEHP (based on mean concentrations)
were 0.092, 0.051, 0.505, 0.703, 0.022, and 1.60 μg/kg-bw/d,
respectively, for Chinese adults. The EDI<sub>diet</sub> values calculated
for phthalates were below the reference doses suggested by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Comparison of total
daily intakes, reported previously based on a biomonitoring study,
with the current dietary intake estimates suggests that diet is the
main source of DEHP exposure in China. Nevertheless, diet accounted
for only <10% of the total exposure to DMP, DEP, DBP, and DIBP,
which suggested the existence of other sources of exposure to these
phthalates