title: Investigating into composition, distribution, sources and health risk of phthalic acid esters in street dust of Xi'an City, Northwest China.
abstract: Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are widely used as plasticizers and in consumer products, which may enter the environment and present risks to human health. U.S. EPA classifies six PAEs as priority pollutants, which could be accumulated in street dust at the interface of atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere. This study collected a total of 58 street dust samples from Xi'an City in Northwest China and analyzed for concentrations of the priority PAEs. Composition, distribution, sources and health risk of the PAEs were further examined. All the priority PAEs were detected in the street dust. The concentrations of individual PAEs varied between not detected and 183.19 mg/kg. The sum of the 6 priority PAEs (∑6PAEs) ranged from 0.87 to 250.30 mg/kg with a mean of 40.48 mg/kg. The most abundant PAEs in the street dust were di-n-butyl phthalate and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). Higher concentrations of ∑6PAEs in the street dust were found in the south and west parts of Xi'an City as well as its urban center, which were possibly attributed to the prevailing northerly Asian winter monsoon. The PAEs in the street dust originated mainly from wide application of plasticizers as well as cosmetics and personal care products. The main pathways of human exposure to PAEs in the street dust were ingestion and dermal adsorption of dust particles. The non-cancer risk of human exposure to PAEs in the street dust was relatively low, while the risk to children was higher than that to adults. The cancer risk of human exposure to DEHP in the street dust was lower than the standard limit value of 10-6.
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, People's Republic of China. wanglijun@snnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenjuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, 1 Forestry Dr., Syracuse, NY, 13201, USA.
authors.forename: Wendong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xingmin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710119, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xinwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D003993:Dibutyl Phthalate / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis*; D004952:Esters / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D004391:Dust; D004952:Esters; D010795:Phthalic Acids; D003993:Dibutyl Phthalate; D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate
keywords: Distribution; Health risk; Phthalic acid ester; Source; Street dust