The concentrations and cumulative risk assessment of phthalates in general population from Shanghai: The comparison between groups with different ages

Highlights: • Phthalate exposures were investigated in both general and sensitive populations. • The exposure was low in adults but presented at a relatively high level in childhood. • MiBP and MnBP exposures were relatively high in infants and pregnant women. • The infants were possibly at a high risk of cumulative exposure to phthalates. Phthalates are predominantly used as plasticizers in daily consumer products. People are regularly exposed to phthalates through contact with these products. Phthalates are suspected to cause adverse effects in general population. We detected 10 metabolites of 6 phthalates in 3348 urine samples of general population (infants (0–1 yr), children and adolescents (2–19 yr), adults (≥20 yr), and pregnant women) from Shanghai. The Daily intake for phthalates was estimated based on the levels of urinary metabolites. Hazard quotient (HQ) was used to evaluate the risk from the exposure to a single chemical. For the cumulative risk calculation, HQs of different phthalates were added to produce the Hazard index (HI). Overall, exposure was low in adults but presented at a relatively high level throughout childhood. The exposure to some specific phthalates was high in infants and pregnant women. The cumulative risk assessment showed cause for concern mainly for infants and children subgroups. The results indicated that general population from Shanghai was widely exposed to phthalates and the infants were possibly at a high risk of cumulative exposure to phthalates.