Cumulative exposure and dietary risk assessment of phthalates in bottled water and bovine milk samples: A preliminary case study in Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT

Exposure to phthalates may cause adverse health effects in wildlife and humans. Study on phthalates exposure and risk is limited in the Indian context. Therefore, this preliminary investigation was performed to ascertain the phthalates exposure through bottled water and milk among the Indian sub-population. Phthalates were extracted from water and milk by solid-phase and ultrasonication methods, respectively, and analysis was performed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Total phthalates in bottled water and milk were in the range of 39–7820 ng/L and 56–686 ng/g, respectively, with the highest contribution from diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). A substantial increase in phthalates concentration in bottled water was observed with increased shelf life. Total mean phthalates in packed milk (245 ng/g) and raw milk (134 ng/g) shows potential enrichment during “farm to table” process. Among phthalates, the lowest risk was expected from diethyl phthalate, whereas the highest risk was observed for DEHP with cumulative dietary exposure of 0.23 μg/kg bw/day (median). The human health risk based on tolerable daily intake and reference dose was found safe. This is the first study reporting phthalates migration in packed commodities from a developing country, India, which further warrants extensive phthalates exposure assessment to understand its effect on public health.

KEYWORDS:

• dietary risk assessment
• phthalates
• bottled water
• milk
• GC–MS
• India

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan, and Shimadzu Corporation, Japan, for the GC–MS facility provided through the project “POPs Monitoring in Asian Coastal Hydrosphere.” Also, the research infrastructure support provided by DST-FIST is greatly acknowledged.

Funding

The authors KKS and SS would like to thank DST-PURSE and CSIR, and University Grants Commission (India), respectively, for research fellowships.