Butyl Benzyl Phthalate in Urban Sewage by Magnetic-Based Immunoassay: Environmental Levels and Risk Assessment.

Xia Hong,Yifan Xia,Yin Cui,Ming Li,Daolin Du,Chengwu Yi

doi:10.3390/bios12010045

Abstract

A magnetic-based immunoassay (MBI) combined with biotin-streptavidin amplification was proposed for butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) investigation and risk assessment. The values of LOD (limit of detection, IC10) and IC50 were 0.57 ng/mL and 119.61 ng/mL, with a detection range of 0.57–24,977.71 ng/mL for MBI. The specificity, accuracy and precision are well demonstrated. A total of 36 environmental water samples of urban sewage from Zhenjiang, China, were collected and assessed for BBP contamination. The results show that BBP-positive levels ranged from 2.47 to 89.21 ng/mL, with a positive rate of 77.8%. The health effects of BBP in the urban sewage were within a controllable range, and the ambient severity for health (ASI) was below 1.49. The highest value of AS for ecology (ASII) was 7.43, which indicates a potential harm to ecology. The entropy value of risk quotient was below 100, the highest being 59.47, which poses a low risk to the environment and ecology, indicating that there is a need to strengthen BBP controls. The non-carcinogenic risk of BBP exposure from drinking water was higher for females than that for males, and the non-carcinogenic risk from drinking-water and bathing pathways was negligible. This study could provide an alternative method for detecting BBP and essential information for controlling BBP contamination.

Highlights

IntroductionThrough its long-term use, butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) has been internationally released into water, soil, atmosphere and even organisms, causing high risks to environmental ecology and human health [4,5]
As one important member of phthalic acid esters, butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) is widely used in plastics, clothing, automobiles, cosmetics and other industries [1–3].Through its long-term use, BBP has been internationally released into water, soil, atmosphere and even organisms, causing high risks to environmental ecology and human health [4,5]
This study suggests that ecological environmental destruction and the potential health risks from environmental contaminants are closely related to human production activities and rapid economic development

Summary

Introduction

Through its long-term use, BBP has been internationally released into water, soil, atmosphere and even organisms, causing high risks to environmental ecology and human health [4,5]. Many researchers have demonstrated that the ecological levels of BBP in water in China are relatively higher than those abroad [6,7]. The Yangtze River Delta region of China (e.g., Shanghai, Nanjing or Zhenjiang) is an area characterized by abundant water and a developed economy and has been shown to have a high-level of BBP contamination [9]. Environmental toxicology research has reported that the concentration values for 50% of maximal effect (EC50 ) for BBP are as follows: 0.51 mg/L in seabass, 0.55–0.66 mg/L in sole fish and 0.68–3.0 mg/L in small sheepshead fish [10]. The health and the ecological target values were set at 60 μg/L and 12 μg/L for BBP, respectively [11]

Methods

Results

Conclusion