Organophosphate ester concentrations in infant food and dietary risk assessment for the infant population in China

Abstract

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are extensively used as plasticizers and flame retardants, whereas information on OPEs in infant foods is limited. In this study, twelve OPEs were investigated in 207 infant food samples collected from ten provinces in China. Mean concentrations of ∑OPEs found in cereal-based complementary foods (5.59 ± 5.54 ng/g) were higher than in infant formulas (2.68 ± 1.86 ng/g) under the upper bound (UB) hypothesis (unpaired t-test, p < 0.05). TEP, EHDPP, TCEP, and TDCPP were found to be the dominant OPEs in infant foods. The mean estimated dietary intakes (EDIs) of the OPEs were 50.2 ng/kg bw/day for infants aged under three years. The mean and 95th percentile hazard index (HI) of OPEs under the UB hypothesis were 6.6 × 10−3 and 1.9 × 10−2, respectively. The dietary risk assessment results showed that the exposure of Chinese infants to OPEs does not indicate a health concern.