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Investigating into composition, distribution, sources and health risk of phthalic acid esters in street dust of Xi’an City, Northwest China

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Abstract

Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are widely used as plasticizers and in consumer products, which may enter the environment and present risks to human health. U.S. EPA classifies six PAEs as priority pollutants, which could be accumulated in street dust at the interface of atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere. This study collected a total of 58 street dust samples from Xi’an City in Northwest China and analyzed for concentrations of the priority PAEs. Composition, distribution, sources and health risk of the PAEs were further examined. All the priority PAEs were detected in the street dust. The concentrations of individual PAEs varied between not detected and 183.19 mg/kg. The sum of the 6 priority PAEs (∑6PAEs) ranged from 0.87 to 250.30 mg/kg with a mean of 40.48 mg/kg. The most abundant PAEs in the street dust were di-n-butyl phthalate and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). Higher concentrations of ∑6PAEs in the street dust were found in the south and west parts of Xi’an City as well as its urban center, which were possibly attributed to the prevailing northerly Asian winter monsoon. The PAEs in the street dust originated mainly from wide application of plasticizers as well as cosmetics and personal care products. The main pathways of human exposure to PAEs in the street dust were ingestion and dermal adsorption of dust particles. The non-cancer risk of human exposure to PAEs in the street dust was relatively low, while the risk to children was higher than that to adults. The cancer risk of human exposure to DEHP in the street dust was lower than the standard limit value of 10−6.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through Grant 41271510, the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province through Grant 2014JM5208 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central University through Grants GK201601009 and GK201302032.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710119, People’s Republic of China

    Lijun Wang, Wenjuan Zhang, Li Wang, Xingmin Shi & Xinwei Lu

  2. College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, 1 Forestry Dr., Syracuse, NY, 13201, USA

    Wendong Tao

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  1. Lijun Wang
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  2. Wenjuan Zhang
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  3. Wendong Tao
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  4. Li Wang
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Correspondence to Lijun Wang.

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Wang, L., Zhang, W., Tao, W. et al. Investigating into composition, distribution, sources and health risk of phthalic acid esters in street dust of Xi’an City, Northwest China. Environ Geochem Health 39, 865–877 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-016-9856-7

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