title: Pollution levels and characteristics of phthalate esters in indoor air in hospitals.
abstract: The concentrations of phthalate esters (PAEs) in Chinese hospitals were investigated by simultaneously determining concentrations of gas- and particle-phase PAEs. PAEs were detected in two third-class first-grade hospitals, two second-class first-grade hospitals, and a community health service center. Hospital drugstores had the highest concentration (24.19μg/m(3)), which was 1.54 times that of newly decorated houses. The second highest concentration was found in the transfusion rooms, averaging 21.89μg/m(3); this was followed by the concentrations of PAEs in the nurse's workstations, the wards, and the doctor's offices, with mean concentrations of 20.66, 20.0, and 16.92μg/m(3), respectively. The lowest concentrations were found in the hallways (16.30μg/m(3)). Of the six different kinds of PAEs found, major pollutants included diethyl phthalates, dibutyl phthalates, butylbenzyl phthalates and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalates, comprising more than 80% of all PAEs present. Meanwhile, a comparison between different wards showed that PAE concentrations in the maternity wards were 1.63 times higher than in the main wards. Based on known health hazards, our results suggest that the PAEs seriously influence the health of the pregnant women and babies; therefore, it is of great importance to take the phthalate concentrations in hospitals into consideration. In addition, hospital indoor air was more seriously contaminated than the air of newly decorated houses.
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. Electronic address: 21214014@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xueqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Chenchen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Pollution and Control, Hangzhou 310058, China. Electronic address: shenxueyou@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xueyou
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D004952:Esters; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D010795:Phthalic Acids; C032279:phthalic acid
keywords: Air pollution; Hospital; Indoor air; Phthalate concentrations