Potential toxic phthalates and heavy metals contamination in vinegars and human health risk assessment

Abstract

Phthalate acid esters (PAEs) and heavy metals (HMs) are well-known contaminants due to their toxic effects on human health. Daily food consumption is one of the critical ways of exposure to these contaminants for the human population. In this study, residue profiles and levels for eight phthalate esters and four heavy metals were evaluated in polyethylene terephthalate and glass bottled vinegars from the Turkish market. PAEs and HMs were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Packaging polymers were characterized by attenuated total reflection-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR/FT-IR) spectroscopy. Furthermore, non-carcinogenic health risk assessment was performed based on regular vinegar consumers' daily oral intake rates. Principal component analysis was carried out to evaluate and distinguish between types of vinegar samples. Bottle type, pH, and electrical conductivity values were effective parameters, to some extent, on PAEs and HMs contents of vinegar samples. The concentration ranges were <LOD-22.8 and 0.02–970 µg L−1 PAEs and HMs, respectively. Dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were the most abundant PAEs, while aluminum (Al) was the predominant HMs. Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), diisononyl phthalate (DiNP), diisodecyl phthalate (DiDP), di(n-octyl) phthalate (DnOP), and inorganic mercury (iHg) were not detected in any sample. Non-carcinogenic risk assessment associated with vinegar consumption showed that the exposure to PAEs (ranging between 2.82 ×10−6 and 4.07 ×10−4 μg/kg bw day−1) and HMs (ranging between 2.06 ×10−5 and 5.24 ×10−2 μg/kg bw day−1) were well below the permissible limits. The findings showed that the levels of PAEs and HMs exposed through commercial vinegars were not significant enough to pose a health risk among individuals aged 18–65.