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Assessing population exposure to phthalate plasticizers in thirteen Spanish cities through the analysis of wastewater.

Authors :
González-Mariño, Iria
Ares, Leticia
Montes, Rosa
Rodil, Rosario
Cela, Rafael
López-García, Ester
Postigo, Cristina
López de Alda, Miren
Pocurull, Eva
Marcé, Rosa María
Bijlsma, Lubertus
Hernández, Félix
Picó, Yolanda
Andreu, Vicente
Rico, Andreu
Valcárcel, Yolanda
Miró, Manuel
Etxebarria, Néstor
Quintana, José Benito
Source :
Journal of Hazardous Materials. Jan2021, Vol. 401, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

• First nationwide study in Spain assessing exposure to phthalates by analysing sewage. • 17 sewage treatment plants serving 13 cities and ca. 6 million people sampled. • Estimated levels in urine close to levels reported in literature for 5 metabolites. • Average exposure levels for parent phthalates ranged from 2 to 1347 μg/(day∙inh). • Safe reference values of butylated phthalates exceeded in some sites. Phthalates are widely used plasticizers that produce endocrine-disrupting disorders. Quantifying exposure is crucial to perform risk assessments and to develop proper health measures. Herein, a wastewater-based epidemiology approach has been applied to estimate human exposure to six of the mostly used phthalates within the Spanish population. Wastewater samples were collected over four weekdays from seventeen wastewater treatment plants serving thirteen cities and ca. 6 million people (12.8 % of the Spanish population). Phthalate metabolite loads in wastewater were transformed into metabolite concentrations in urine and into daily exposure levels to the parent phthalates. Considering all the sampled sites, population-weighted overall means of the estimated concentrations in urine varied between 0.7 ng/mL and 520 ng/mL. Very high levels, compared to human biomonitoring data, were estimated for monomethyl phthalate, metabolite of dimethyl phthalate. This, together with literature data pointing to other sources of this metabolite in sewage led to its exclusion for exposure assessments. For the remaining metabolites, estimated concentrations were closer to those found in urine. Their 4-days average exposure levels ranged from 2 to 1347 μg/(day∙inh), exceeding in some sites the daily exposure thresholds set for di- i -butyl phthalate and di -n- buthyl phthalate by the European Food Safety Authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
03043894
Volume :
401
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Journal of Hazardous Materials
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
146561473
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123272