Findings of 2731 suspected phthalate-tainted foodstuffs during the 2011 phthalates incident in Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to investigate what kinds of food products were contaminated by phthalates, mainly di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and/or di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), during the 2011 phthalates incident in Taiwan, and whether the DEHP and/or DINP concentrations of some affected foods decreased after this incident.


METHODS
During May-October, 2011, 2731 food items were sent by individual citizens or companies to a government-accredited laboratory for the analyses of six main phthalate chemicals, including DEHP, DINP, di-isodecyl phthalate, di(n-octyl)phthalate, di-n-butyl phthalate, and butyl benzyl phthalate. A concentration of ≥1 ppm for any of the six phthalate chemicals in the foods studied was defined as positive.


RESULTS
The overall positive rate was 16.2%. The positive rate of possibly affected foods was similar between sanctioned and non-sanctioned foods categorized as "Others" by the government (16.0% vs. 16.4%). There were 33 food items, most of which belonged to the Others category, sent twice by companies on different dates. Of these, the positive rates of affected foods significantly decreased from 39.4% for DEHP and 72.7% for DINP at the first analyses to 3.0% for DEHP and 9.1% for DINP at the second, respectively (p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Besides the government-sanctioned foods, foods from the Others category were still affected by phthalate contamination. Thus, vigilant scrutiny of food safety in modern life is necessary.
Department of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Chia-Fang
CF
Wu
Department of Chemical Engineering, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Guo-Ping
GP
Chang-Chien
Department of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Sheng-Wen
SW
Su
Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Bai-Hsiun
BH
Chen
Department of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Center of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Electronic address: 960021@ms.kmuh.org.tw.
Ming-Tsang
MT
Wu
D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000506:poisoning*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
D010795:Phthalic Acids; C032279:phthalic acid
Taiwan; contaminated foodstuffs; di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate; emulsifier; phthalates