Dust-phase phthalates in university dormitories in Beijing, China: pollution characteristics, potential sources, and non-dietary oral exposure

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to determine dust-phase phthalate levels in 112 dormitories of 14 universities during autumn and winter, investigate their potential sources, and estimate phthalate exposure via dust ingestion. Twelve phthalates were detected, among which di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP) were the most abundant, followed by di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP). The median concentrations and contributions of DCHP and DEHP were the highest. The contributions of di-n-octyl phthalate and di-nonyl phthalate were higher in winter than in autumn. Potential sources included iron furniture, chemical fiber textiles, clothes, and personal care products. Medium-density fiberboard furniture is a potential sink for phthalates. In two seasons, DEHP, DCHP, DiBP, and DnBP were the main phthalates ingested by college students . The median oral exposure of ten phthalates was higher in females than in males. College students have a high risk of exposure to DEHP in dormitories.

KEYWORDS:

• Indoor dust
• phthalates
• dormitory
• consumer products
• oral exposure

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the college students participating in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Geolocation information

Study area: Beijing, China.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Supplemental material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2024.2313184

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFF0306305-06), the Beijing Science and Technology Planning Project (Z191100004419002), and the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture Post Graduate Innovation Project, China (PG2022062).