Occurrence of phthalates and bispehenols in personal care and consumer products from Korea: Implication of exposure to women and their infants

The esters of phthalic acid (phthalates) and bisphenol analouges (BPs) have been widely used for several decades in personal care and consumer products. Despite high consumption and widespread use of these contaminants in our daily life, little is known about contents of phthalates and BPs in many commercial products. In our study, sixteen phthalates and eight BPs were determined in 166 personal care and consumer products, which are comprised of 148 products for women and 18 baby care products, using GC/MS/MS and LC/MS/MS. Among 16 phthalates, DEHP showed the highest detection rate (63%), and followed by DnBP (43%), and DiBP (39%). DCHP, DiHpP and DnOP were rarely detected in all of the product samples (<3%). BPs were less frequently detected than phthalates; BPA (34%) was most frequently detected, followed by BPAF and BPB (24%). Total concentrations of phthalates and BPs ranged from <LOQ to 46,400 (mean: 310) μg/g and from <LOQ to 2450 (mean: 23.2) ng/g, respectively. DnBP concentration was the highest (mean: 279 μg/g), and DEP (mean: 22.0 μg/g) and DEHP (mean: 5.6 μg/g) showed relatively higher than other chemicals. Most of BP analogue levels were generally close to sub-ng/g level. In our study, the estimated dermal intakes of phthalates via the use of personal care and consumer products were 1.79 μg/kg body weight/day and 0.23 μg/kg body weight/day for Korean women and infants, respectively. The dermal intakes of BPs were estimated to be 0.05 ng/kg body weight/day and 0.001 ng/kg body weight/day for Korean women and infants, respectively. Considering no comprehensive data on phthalates and bisphenol analouges in commercial products for human exposure in Korea, further studies are required to assess the exposure status of these contaminants with multiple exposure sources, such as diet, dust, inhalation, drinking water, and contact with other products (e.g. thermal receipts).