title: Phthalate metabolites in urine of Chinese young adults: Concentration, profile, exposure and cumulative risk assessment.
abstract: Phthalates are widely used in consumer products. People are frequently exposed to phthalates due to their applications in daily life. In this study, 14 phthalate metabolites were analyzed in 108 urine samples collected from Chinese young adults using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The total concentrations of 14 phthalate metabolites ranged from 71.3 to 2670 ng/mL, with the geometric mean concentration of 306 ng/mL. mBP and miBP were the two most abundant compounds, accounting for 48% of the total concentrations. Principal component analysis suggested two major sources of phthalates: one dominated by the DEHP metabolites and one by the group of mCPP, mBP and miBP metabolites. The estimated daily intakes of DMP, DEP, DBP, DiBP and DEHP were 1.68, 2.14, 4.12, 3.52 and 1.26-2.98 μg/kg-bw/day, respectively. In a sensitivity analysis, urinary concentration and body weight were the most influential variables for human exposure estimation. Furthermore, cumulative risk for hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) were evaluated. Nearly half of Chinese young adults had high HI values exceeding the safe threshold. This is the first study on the occurrence and human exposure to urinary phthalate metabolites with Chinese young adults.
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Chong-Jing
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Li-Yan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Wan-Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Nan-Qi
authors.initials: NQ
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, United States.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Ning-Zheng
authors.initials: NZ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: The Second Campus Hospital, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: International Joint Research Center for Persistent Toxic Substances, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: ijrc_pts_paper@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Yi-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, United States. Electronic address: kkannan@wadsworth.org.
authors.forename: Kurunthachalam
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kannan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000652:urine*; D006801:Humans; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000652:urine*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010795:Phthalic Acids; C032279:phthalic acid
keywords: China; Cumulative risk assessment; Human exposure; Phthalates; Urine