• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.548-554
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• 2020

Objectives: This study is to examine the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials in elementary school classrooms and libraries in Seoul, and to investigate phthalate contamination in indoor dust. Methods: PVC material was identified for building materials and furniture using portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF). Phthalates in dust samples (n=19) were extracted by ultrasonic extraction using cyclohexane and analyzed by GC-MS. Results: Diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), and Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were found in all collected dust samples (n=19), and diisonyl phthalate (DINP) was detected in all except for one sample (n=18). The concentration of DEHP (median: 2190 mg/kg) and DINP (2960 mg/kg) were higher than other compounds, suggesting that there are many products in the school that used these compounds. When comparing the phthalate concentration in the classroom (n=11) and library dust (n=8), the total concentration in the classroom (median: 10000 mg/kg) was higher than that in the library (8030 mg/kg). DEHP was the dominant compound in the library. The library is relatively more equipped with PVC furniture (n=83) and most floors are also identified as PVC material, suggesting that floors and furniture made of PVC materials are main sources of DEHP contamination. Conclusions: This study is a pilot survey for investigating phthalate contamination in elementary schools. As a result of the survey, phthalate contamination in elementary school was confirmed. However, further study requires risk assessment of children through analysis of phthalate metabolites in children based on sufficient number of samples and information about the site.

• Proceedings of the Korea Environmental Mutagen Society Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.95-95
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• 2004

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.2.1-2.15
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• 2023

Background: Phthalates are endocrine disrupting chemicals that are widely used in the production of items of daily life such as in polyvinylchloride plastics, insecticides, and medical devices. This study aimed to determine the association between phthalate exposure and shellfish consumption using data from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (KoNEHS) cycle 3 (2015-2017), which is a nationally representative survey. Methods: In this study, we analyzed the KoNEHS cycle 3 data of 3,333 (1,526 men and 1,807 women) adults aged more than 19 years. Data related to the variables of sociodemographic factors, health-related behaviors, dietary factors, seafood consumption frequency, and urinary phthalate metabolites concentrations were collected. The concentrations of urinary phthalate metabolites of all the participants were divided into quartiles to define high and low concentration groups based on the 75th percentile concentration. A χ² test was conducted to analyze the distribution of independent variables. To analyze the relationship between shellfish consumption and phthalate exposure, the odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using logistic regression analysis. Results: Total adults with shellfish consumption frequency of over once a week showed the following adjusted ORs for high concentrations of the following metabolites compared with the group that consumed shellfish once a week or less: 1.43 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-2.06) for mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), 1.43 (95% CI: 1.01-2.03) for mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP), 1.57 (95% CI: 1.10-2.24) for ∑di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (∑DEHP), 2.01 (95% CI: 1.46-2.77) for mono-carboxyoctyl phthalate (MCOP), 1.56 (95% CI: 1.11-2.18) for mono-carboxy-isononly phthalate (MCNP), and 2.57 (95% CI: 1.85-3.56) for mono (3-carboxypropyl) phthalate (MCPP). Conclusions: The concentrations of urinary phthalate metabolites (MEOHP, MECPP, ∑DEHP, MCOP, MCNP, and MCPP) were higher in adults with a higher frequency of shellfish consumption.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.510-517
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• 2010

Phthalates, such as di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) have been proved to be teratogenics and endocrine disruptors, metabolized rapidly and excreted in the urine. In this study, a simultaneous analytical method for 10 phthalate metabolites, MnBP, MiBP, MBzP, MCHP, MEHP, MEHHP, MEOHP, MnOP, MiNP and MiDP, in human urines, based on switching system with on-line pretreatment column using HPLC-MS/MS has been developed. This method was validated according to the guideline of bioanalytical method validation of National Institute of Toxicological Research. Limits of detection range between 0.2 and 0.9 ng/ml for 10 phthalate metabolites. The calibration curves showed linearity in the range 0.997~0.999, and the results of the intra- and inter-day validations were in the range from 0.4 to 14.7% RSD and from 0.3 to 9.4% RSD, respectively. Recoveries of phthalate metabolites varied from 87.0 to 116.1%. This analytical method showed high accuracy and stable precision for all metabolites, and seems to be suitable for biomonitoring of phthalates in human urine.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2020

Endometriosis is a common gynecologic disease, worldwide, whose true prevalence is uncertain because it is a difficult disease to diagnose. Endometriosis is a common cause of chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and infertility, and is also associated with ovarian cancer. Although the risk factors for endometriosis are unclear, there is increasing evidence that exposure to environmental contaminants, especially phthalates, could affect the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Phthalates are industrial chemicals, used to make flexible plastics, and are present in numerous common plastic products, including medical devices and materials. Several in vitro studies have suggested a positive association between exposure to phthalate, or phthalate metabolites, and the risk of endometriosis. Since the 2000s, studies based on human plasma and urinary concentrations of various phthalate metabolites have been published, but there are still limitations to our understanding of the pathophysiology of phthalates and endometriosis. This report aims to review the current state of knowledge about a possible role of phthalates in the pathogenesis of endometriosis based on cell culture, animal models, and human data.

• Journal of odor and indoor environment
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.315-321
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• 2018

Phthalate is an endocrine disruptor that interferes with homeostasis and developmental regulation. It is highly toxic to the environment and is associated with various diseases of the human body. Using biological samples from 140 adult subjects, to evaluate the influencing factors which are related to contaminant concentration levels, we used correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. Lastly, in order to analyze the health effects related to exposure to phthalates, we conducted a risk assessment by estimating acceptable daily intake exposure according to the influential factors. When we compared the concentration level according to influential factors, in general, the subjects who had engaged in home remodeling work had higher urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations levels than the subjects who had not engaged in home remodeling work. We can confirm statistically significant differences in DBP metabolites. In addition, we can confirm the concentration appeared higher in the categories such as using air freshener, sofa and foods. Through conducting a risk assessment of DEHP, BBzP, DiBP, and DnBP by using data on phthalate metabolite concentration in urine, it was found that the average concentration of all metabolites did not exceed TDI.