Analysis of global commonly-used phthalates and non-dietary exposure assessment in indoor environment

Abstract

Phthalates are ubiquitously present in indoor environment and cause apparent or potential harm to human body. This paper summarized the concentrations of six representative phthalates in gas phase, airborne particles and settled dust of North America, Europe and Asia from published papers in the last twenty years (2000–2019) to analyze phthalates pollution characteristics worldwide. 94 papers containing measured data were selected and classified, including 20 in North America, 26 in Europe and 48 in Asia. The average total concentrations of six commonly-used phthalates in settled dust in Asia (945.45 μg/g) was the highest, followed by Europe (580.12 μg/g) and North America (500.02 μg/g). Since amounts of phthalates test data focused either on indoor settled dust or on indoor air (gas phase and particle phase respectively), rarely focused on both air and settled dust, the effective phthalates prediction model in multiphase media is particularly significant for indoor exposure assessment. Thus, equilibrium model and dynamic model were verified and relative bias range was given based on French residence test data. Finally, taking phthalates test data in China as example, data of di(n-butyl) phthalate (DnBP), di(isobutyl) phthalate (DiBP) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were first complemented in multiphase media by using reliable equilibrium model and dynamic model. Moreover, Monte Carlo simulation was utilized to assess non-dietary exposure levels of targeted phthalates, and exposure analysis method based on data distribution is of more statistical significance.