title: Phthalate esters contamination in soil and plants on agricultural land near an electronic waste recycling site.
abstract: The accumulation of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in soil and plants in agricultural land near an electronic waste recycling site in east China has become a great threat to the neighboring environmental quality and human health. Soil and plant samples collected from land under different utilization, including fallow plots, vegetable plots, plots with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) as green manure, fallow plots under long-term flooding and fallow plots under alternating wet and dry periods, together with plant samples from relative plots were analyzed for six PAE compounds nominated as prior pollutants by USEPA. In the determined samples, the concentrations of six target PAE pollutants ranged from 0.31-2.39 mg/kg in soil to 1.81-5.77 mg/kg in various plants (dry weight/DW), and their bioconcentration factors (BCFs) ranged from 5.8 to 17.9. Health risk assessments were conducted on target PAEs, known as typical environmental estrogen analogs, based on their accumulation in the edible parts of vegetables. Preliminary risk assessment to human health from soil and daily vegetable intake indicated that DEHP may present a high-exposure risk on all ages of the population in the area by soil ingestion or vegetable consumption. The potential damage that the target PAE compounds may pose to human health should be taken into account in further comprehensive risk assessments in e-waste recycling sites areas. Moreover, alfalfa removed substantial amounts of PAEs from the soil, and its use can be considered a good strategy for in situ remediation of PAEs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Ting Ting
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Christie
authors.forename: Yong Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Teng
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D002681:China; D059029:Electronic Waste; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004952:Esters / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000633:toxicity; D014675:Vegetables / Q000378:metabolism*; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004952:Esters; D010795:Phthalic Acids; D012989:Soil Pollutants