Excretion of Urinary Metabolites of the Phthalate Esters DEP and DEHP in 16 Volunteers after Inhalation and Dermal Exposure

Annette M. Krais, Christina Andersen, Axel C. Eriksson, Eskil Johnsson, Jörn Nielsen, Joakim Pagels, Anders Gudmundsson, Christian H. Lindh and Aneta Wierzbicka
Additional contact information
Annette M. Krais: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, SE-22363 Lund, Sweden
Christina Andersen: Division of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
Axel C. Eriksson: Division of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
Eskil Johnsson: Truly Labs AB, Medicon Village, SE-22381 Lund, Sweden
Jörn Nielsen: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, SE-22363 Lund, Sweden
Joakim Pagels: Division of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
Anders Gudmundsson: Division of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
Christian H. Lindh: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University, SE-22363 Lund, Sweden
Aneta Wierzbicka: Division of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Phthalate esters are suspected endocrine disruptors that are found in a wide range of applications. The aim of this study was to determine the excretion of urinary metabolites in 16 individuals after inhalation and/or dermal exposure to 100–300 µg/m 3 of deuterium-labelled diethyl phthalate (D 4 -DEP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (D 4 -DEHP). Dermal exposure in this study represents a case with clean clothing acting as a barrier. After inhalation, D 4 -DEP and D 4 -DEHP metabolites were excreted rapidly, though inter-individual variation was high. D 4 -DEP excretion peaked 3.3 h (T½ of 2.1 h) after combined inhalation and dermal exposure, with total excreted metabolite levels ranging from 0.055 to 2.351 nmol/nmol/m 3 (nmol of urinary metabolites per phthalates air concentration in (nmol/m 3 )). After dermal exposure to D 4 -DEP, metabolite excretion peaked 4.6 h (T½ of 2.7 h) after exposure, with excreted metabolite levels in between 0.017 and 0.223 nmol/nmol/m 3 . After combined inhalation and dermal exposure to D 4 -DEHP, the excretion of all five analysed metabolites peaked after 4.7 h on average (T½ of 4.8 h), and metabolite levels ranged from 0.072 to 1.105 nmol/nmol/m 3 between participants. No dermal uptake of particle phase D 4 -DEHP was observed. In conclusion, the average excreted levels of metabolites after combined inhalation and dermal exposure to D 4 -DEP was three times higher than after combined exposure to D 4 -DEHP; and nine times higher than after dermal exposure of D 4 -DEP. This study was made possible due to the use of novel approaches, i.e., the use of labelled phthalate esters to avoid the background concentration, and innovative technique of phthalate generation, both in the particle and the gas phase.

Keywords: phthalate esters; human exposure studies; human biomonitoring; indoor air pollution; indoor environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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