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Monitoring and health risk assessment of phthalate esters in household’s drinking water of Isfahan, Iran

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Abstract

This study aimed to determine the presence of phthalates and their concentration in household’s drinking water and to examine their potential risk for inhabitants in urban regions of Isfahan, Iran. During the summer and winter of 2017, samples were extracted from 33 private residences via dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction with some modifications. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to determine the presence of four major phthalates. According to the results, four phthalates, including dibutyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), diethyl phthalate, and di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), were present in the samples. The highest contamination with phthalates was attributed to DEHP (606.89 ng/l). Except for BBP, the mean concentrations of other PAE compounds were higher in summer than in winter. The mean concentration of DEHP in sampling points with plastic pipes was higher than that of regions with metal pipes. Based on the health risk assessment, exposure of humans to phthalates in drinking water was acceptable and did not pose carcinogenic effects. Further studies are recommended for adequate monitoring of phthalates in drinking water, food, and air in order to ensure human health.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Research Chancellery of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (Grant No. 195103). The authors would like to thank the Deputy of Research and Technology of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences for providing the required financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    A. Abdolahnejad

  2. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Environmental Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Faculty of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    L. Gheisari, K. Ebrahimpour & A. Ebrahimi

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

    M. Karimi & N. Norastehfar

  4. Department of Public Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh, Iran

    A. Mohammadi

  5. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

    R. Ghanbari

  6. Student Research Committee, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    N. Jafari

Authors
  1. A. Abdolahnejad
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  2. L. Gheisari
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  3. M. Karimi
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  4. N. Norastehfar
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  5. K. Ebrahimpour
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  6. A. Mohammadi
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  7. R. Ghanbari
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  8. A. Ebrahimi
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  9. N. Jafari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. Jafari.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was registered with the code of ethics IR.MUI.REC.1395.1.103 in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

Informed consent

We obtained informed consent from homeowners before sampling.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: M. Abbaspour.

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Abdolahnejad, A., Gheisari, L., Karimi, M. et al. Monitoring and health risk assessment of phthalate esters in household’s drinking water of Isfahan, Iran. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 16, 7409–7416 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-2143-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-2143-7

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