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. 2017 Mar 22:7:45009.
doi: 10.1038/srep45009.

Estimated Daily Intake and Cumulative Risk Assessment of Phthalates in the General Taiwanese after the 2011 DEHP Food Scandal

Jung-Wei Chang  1 , Ching-Chang Lee  1   2 , Wen-Harn Pan  3   4 , Wei-Chun Chou  5 , Han-Bin Huang  6 , Hung-Che Chiang  5 , Po-Chin Huang  5   7   8
Affiliations

Estimated Daily Intake and Cumulative Risk Assessment of Phthalates in the General Taiwanese after the 2011 DEHP Food Scandal

Jung-Wei Chang et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

A food scandal occurred in Taiwan in 2011 because the DEHP (di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate) had been intentionally used in food products. We assessed the daily intakes (DIs) and cumulative risk of phthalates in Taiwan's general population after the scandal. The DIs of 6 phthalates, including di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), di-iso-butyl phthalate (DiBP), and DEHP, were evaluated using urinary phthalate metabolites. Hazard quotients of phthalates classified as affecting the reproductive (HQrep) and hepatic (HQhep) systems were assessed using cumulative approach. The creatinine-based model showed that the highest DI values in children 7-to 12- years-old were for DEHP (males: median: 4.79 μg/kg bw/d; females: median: 2.62 μg/kg bw/d). The 95th percentile (P95) of HQrep values were all >1 in the 7- to 12-year-old and 18- to 40-year-old male groups. The P95 of HQhep values were all >1 in the 7- to 18- year-old male groups. Most of the HQrep was attributable to the HQs of DnBP and DiBP (53.9-84.7%), and DEHP contributed most to HQhep (83.1-98.6%), which reveals that DnBP, DiBP and DEHP were the main risk of phthalate exposure for Taiwanese. Taiwan's general population is widely exposed to DnBP, DiBP and DEHP, especially for young children.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The median and 95th percentile hazard quotient (HQ) for (A) hepatic effects; and for (B) anti-androgenic effects of four phthalates in different age groups by gender based on the EFSA TDIs and USEPA RfD.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The contribution of different PAEs to hazard quotient (HQ) for (A) hepatic effects; and for (B) anti-androgenic effects in different age groups by gender.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cumulative risk of hepatic (A,B) and anti-androgenic effects (C,D) of phthalates in adults and minors: The dotted 100%-line illustrates the HI in respect to the cumulative HI (HIcum) for the different scenarios.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Principal component analysis of 10 urinary phthalate metabolites (minors (A,C) and adults (B,D)) by gender (male (A,B) and female (C,D)).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Cluster analysis of 10 urinary phthalate metabolites (minors (A,C) and adults (B,D)) by gender (male (A,B) and female (C,D)).
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