Exposure to the plasticizer di(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate (DEHTP) in Portuguese children - Urinary metabolite levels and estimated daily intakes

Classical ortho-phthalate plasticizers are, due to their endocrine disrupting potency and reproductive toxicity, increasingly replaced by alternative plasticizers. Di(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate (DEHTP) is one of these substitutes. In this study, we investigated DEHTP exposure in 107 Portuguese children (4-17 years old) by analyzing specific DEHTP metabolites in their urine using a newly developed LC-MS/MS method. We could detect the major, specific DEHTP metabolite mono(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) terephthalate (5cx-MEPTP) in 100% of the samples with levels above the limit of quantification in 96% of the samples (median concentration 4.19 μg/L; 95th percentile 26.4 μg/L; maximum 3400 μg/L). Other minor DEHTP metabolites (5OH-MEHTP, 5oxo-MEHTP and 2cx-MMHTP) were detected at lower rates and levels. Daily DEHTP intakes calculated from urinary 5cx-MEPTP levels were generally far below the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 1000 μg/kg bw/d (median 0.67 μg/kg bw/d; 95th percentile 6.25 μg/kg bw/d; maximum 690 μg/kg bw/d). However, for one child the biomarker-derived health-based guidance value (HBM-I value) for 5cx-MEPTP of 1800 μg/L was exceeded by about a factor of two. Levels of 5cx-MEPTP and calculated daily DEHTP intakes were higher in normal/under-weight children who nourished on their usual diet compared to overweight/obese children who received nutritional guidance with fresh and unprocessed food (p = 0.043 and p < 0.001 respectively). This indicates to processed and fatty foodstuff as a major source of DEHTP exposure. Additionally, we found children of lower age having higher DEHTP intakes (p = 0.045). Again, foodstuff as a major DEHTP source, together with other child specific DEHTP sources such as mouthing of toys or ingestion of dust might be contributing factors. With the present study, we provide a first data set on the omnipresent DEHTP exposure in children. So far, general levels of DEHTP exposure seem no cause for concern. However, due to the increasing use of DEHTP as an ortho-phthalate substitute, possible increasing exposures in the future should be followed closely.