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Chemical Behavior of Phthalates Under Abiotic Conditions in Landfills

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Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume 224

Part of the book series: Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology ((RECT,volume 224))

Abstract

Phthalates or phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are diesters of phthalic anhydride. They are synthesized from an esterification reaction between phthalic anhydride and oxo alcohols (ECOBILAN 2001). Phthalates are usually used as plasticizers to enhance the flexibility of materials and their technical properties. Mersiowsky et al. (2001) reported that the phthalates serve as plasticizers for approximately 93 % of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymer that is produced. In addition, they are also used in cosmetics, in fragrances, as pesticide carriers, in insect repellants, and are found in vinyl floorings, wall coverings, cables, tubing, hoses, upholstery, films, paints, adhesives, and inks, among other products (ECPI 1994; Schierow and Lee 2008). The annual worldwide production of PAEs exceeds five million tons (Mackintosh et al. 2006).

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Acknowledgment

We are extremely grateful to Dr. Dave Whitacre, RECT Editor, for his excellent comments and editing of the manuscript. The authors appreciate the input made by Subhankar Chatterjee and other anonymous reviewers. We would also like to thank Jennifer Abena Kwofie for her contribution.

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  1. Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Integrated Regulation and Resource Development on Shallow Lakes, College of Environment, Hohai University, No. 1 Xikang Road, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Jingyu Huang, Philip N. Nkrumah, Yi Li & Gloria Appiah-Sefah

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  1. Jingyu Huang
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  2. Philip N. Nkrumah
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Correspondence to Philip N. Nkrumah .

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Huang, J., Nkrumah, P.N., Li, Y., Appiah-Sefah, G. (2013). Chemical Behavior of Phthalates Under Abiotic Conditions in Landfills. In: Whitacre, D. (eds) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume 224. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol 224. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5882-1_2

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