1.Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China ;2.Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an 710049, China ;3.Institute of Reproductive and Child Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China ;4.Haidian Maternal & Child Health Hospital, Beijing, 100080, China ;5.Department of Andrology, School of Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210002, China ;
Abstract:
Diet is an important exposure route for phthalates, such as di-iso-butyl phthalate (DiBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP). In this study, we aimed to estimate phthalate exposure in the diet of pregnant women and assess the health risk. A total of 517 pregnant women in the first trimester were recruited, and food frequency questionnaires were collected. A simple distribution assessment method was used to estimate daily exposure, and the hazard index (HI) method was used to assess cumulative risk. The maximum daily dietary exposure to DEHP, DBP, DiBP, and BBP was 5.25, 3.17, 2.59, and 0.58 μg/kg bw/day, respectively, and did not exceed the safety limit values. Cereals and vegetables were the main sources of the estimated daily intake (EDI) of phthalates in the diet. The cumulative risk assessment, based on the European Food Safety Authority tolerable daily intake (TDI) and the US Environmental Protection Agency reference dose (RfD), did not exceed the threshold of 1. DiBP, DBP, and DEHP had higher hazard quotient (HQ) values for cumulative health risk than BBP. In conclusion, a low health risk was posed by the cumulative dietary exposure to phthalates for pregnant women in Beijing.