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Urban stormwater is an important pathway for transporting anthropogenic pollutants to water bodies. Phthalate esters (PAEs) are endocrine disruptors owing to their estrogenic activity and potential carcinogenicity and their ubiquitous presence has garnered global interest. However, their transportation by urban stormwater has been largely overlooked. This study, for the first time, investigated 15 PAEs in stormwater from six major stormwater drains in the highly urbanized Hong Kong, a major metropolitan city in China. The results showed that PAEs were ubiquitous in the stormwater of Hong Kong, with total concentrations (∑ 15 PAEs) spanning from 195 to 80,500 ng/L. Bis(2-n-butoxyethyl) phthalate (DBEP), diisopentyl phthalate (DiPP), dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP) and di-n-pentyl phthalate (DnPP) were detected in stormwater for the first time. Spatial variations in PAEs were observed among different stormwater drains, possibly due to the different land use patterns and intensities of human activities in their respective catchments. The highest and lowest levels of ∑ 15 PAEs were found in Kwai Chung (3860 ± 1960 ng/L) and the Ng Tung River (672 ± 557 ng/L), respectively. Additionally, significantly higher concentrations of ∑ 15 PAEs in stormwater were found in the wet season (2520 ± 2050 ng/L) than in the dry season (947 ± 904 ng/L). Principal component analysis classified domestic and industrial origins as two important sources of PAEs in the stormwater of Hong Kong. Stormwater played a crucial role in transporting PAEs, with an estimated annual flux of 0.705-29.4 kg. Thus, possible stormwater management measures were proposed to protect the receiving environment and local ecosystems from stormwater., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Inhalation of size-dependent particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been extensively studied, whereas dermal absorption has not been adequately investigated. To address this knowledge gap, dermal absorption of size-dependent particle-bound PAHs was characterized through the collection of indoor air and forearm wipe samples in the setting of an indoor barbecue. The mass of size-fractioned PAHs associated with particulate matter was greater in fine particles (<1.8 μm) than in coarse particles (>1.8 μm). Gas-particle distribution of specific PAHs from barbecue fume was ascribed to both adsorption and absorption which would probably be close to equilibrium, while that from background air was dominated by absorption. Forearm-deposited amounts of particulate PAHs suggested that removal of coarse and fine particles could minimize exposure to low and high molecular-weight (MW) PAHs, respectively. Besides, the concentrations of particulate PAHs in forearms wipe were significantly correlated to their dry deposition fluxes with coarse particles, but weakly correlated to those with fine particles. This indicated that particle size would influence dermal absorption efficiency of particle-bound PAHs with fine particles prolonging dermal exposure to PAHs. Overall, higher MW particle-bound PAHs derived from barbecue fume may pose higher risk to human health by dermal absorption than lower MW PAHs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)