title: Phthalate concentrations and dietary exposure from food purchased in New York State.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Phthalates have been found in many personal care and industrial products, but have not previously been reported in food purchased in the United States. Phthalates are ubiquitous synthetic compounds and therefore difficult to measure in foods containing trace levels. Phthalates have been associated with endocrine disruption and developmental alteration.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our goals were to report concentrations of phthalates in U.S. food for the first time, specifically, nine phthalates in 72 individual food samples purchased in Albany, New York, and to compare these findings with other countries and estimate dietary phthalate intake.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convenience sample of commonly consumed foods was purchased from New York supermarkets. Methods were developed to analyze these foods using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Dietary intakes of phthalates were estimated as the product of the food consumption rate and concentration of phthalates in that food.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The range of detection frequency of individual phthalates varied from 6% for dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP) to 74% for di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). DEHP concentrations were the highest of the phthalates measured in all foods except beef [where di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) was the highest phthalate found], with pork having the highest estimated mean concentration of any food group (mean 300 ng/g; maximum, 1,158 ng/g). Estimated mean adult intakes ranged from 0.004 μg/kg/day for dimethyl phthalate (DMP) to 0.673 μg/kg/day for DEHP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Phthalates are widely present in U.S. foods. While estimated intakes for individual phthalates in this study were more than an order of magnitude lower than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reference doses, cumulative exposure to phthalates is of concern and a more representative survey of U.S. foods is indicated.
authors: University of Texas School of Public Health, Dallas, Texas 75390-9128, USA. arnold.schecter@utsouthwestern.edu
authors: Arnold
authors: A
authors: Schecter
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Lorber
authors: Ying
authors: Y
authors: Guo
authors: Qian
authors: Q
authors: Wu
authors: Se Hun
authors: SH
authors: Yun
authors: Kurunthachalam
authors: K
authors: Kannan
authors: Madeline
authors: M
authors: Hommel
authors: Nadia
authors: N
authors: Imran
authors: Linda S
authors: LS
authors: Hynan
authors: Dunlei
authors: D
authors: Cheng
authors: Justin A
authors: JA
authors: Colacino
authors: Linda S
authors: LS
authors: Birnbaum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D009518:New York; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010795:Phthalic Acids