Occurrence and Profiles of Phthalate Esters in Vegetables and Their Dietary Exposure to Human.

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are widely used plasticizers in plastic films, and have been detected in greenhouse soils and vegetables. Human exposure to PAEs through consuming contaminated vegetables sold in markets was concerned in this study. The profiles of PAEs in vegetables showed that DiBP, DnBP and DEHP were more abundant than DMP, DEP and BBP. There was no tight correlation between the analyzed PAE concentrations in greenhouse vegetables and soils, which suggested that there were other sources of PAEs than greenhouse soil. The concentrations of PAEs in vegetables sold in Nanjing were higher than in other cities. Based on vegetable dietary survey, the estimated daily intakes of DnBP and DEHP were 1.92 µg kg^-1 d^-1, 1.23 µg kg^-1 d^-1 for 6-13 yr children and 1.99 µg kg^-1 d^-1 and 1.27 µg kg^-1 d^-1 for adults. The cumulative risk assessment indicated that 11.6 % of 6-13 yr children and 12.1 % adults were exceeded HI =1 if only considering vegetable daily intake based on the reference daily dose. The values of carcinogenic risk factors showed 6-13 yr children had higher exposure threaten from DEHP and BBP than adults. The results of this study indicated the necessary to control PAEs contamination in greenhouse agriculture.