Background: Phthalates have been found in many personal care and industrial products, but have not previously been reported in food purchased in the United States. Phthalates are ubiquitous synthetic compounds and therefore difficult to measure in foods containing trace levels. Phthalates have been associated with endocrine disruption and developmental alteration.Objectives: Our goals were to report concentrations of phthalates in U.S. food for the first time, specifically, nine phthalates in 72 individual food samples purchased in Albany, New York, and to compare these findings with other countries and estimate dietary phthalate intake.Methods: A convenience sample of commonly consumed foods was purchased from New York supermarkets. Methods were developed to analyze these foods using gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy. Dietary intakes of phthalates were estimated as the product of the food consumption rate and concentration of phthalates in that food.Results: The range of detection frequency of individual phthalates varied from 6% for dicyclohexyl phthalate (DCHP) to 74% for di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). DEHP concentrations were the highest of the phthalates measured in all foods except beef [where di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP) was the highest phthalate found], with pork having the highest estimated mean concentration of any food group (mean 300 ng/g; maximum, 1,158 ng/g). Estimated mean adult intakes ranged from 0.004 μg/kg/day for dimethyl phthalate (DMP) to 0.673 μg/kg/day for DEHP.Conclusions: Phthalates are widely present in U.S. foods. While estimated intakes for individual phthalates in this study were more than an order of magnitude lower than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reference doses, cumulative exposure to phthalates is of concern and a more representative survey of U.S. foods is indicated.

In this study, 10 perfluorochemicals (PFCs) were measured in meat, meat products, and eggs, and in indoor dust, collected in China. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were the most frequently detected PFCs in these samples. Mean concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in foodstuffs were in the range of 0.05-1.99 ng/g fresh wt and 0.06-12.5 ng/g fresh wt, respectively. The mean concentrations of PFOA, perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA), and PFOS in indoor dust were 205, 14.0, and 4.86 ng/g, dry wt, respectively. The estimated daily intake of PFOS and PFOA from meat, meat products and eggs (EDI(meat&eggs)) ranged from 6.00 to 9.64 ng/d and from 254 to 576 ng/d, respectively, when the values below the limit of quantitation (LOQ) were assigned as 0, and from 8.80 to 15.0 ng/d and from 255 to 577 ng/d, respectively, when the values below the LOQ were set at 1/2LOQ. The EDI(meat&eggs) of PFOS and PFOA increased with increasing family income. The estimated daily intake of PFOS and PFOA through inhalation of dust (EDI(dust)) ranged from 0.23 to 0.31 ng/d and from 9.68 to 13.4 ng/d, respectively. The daily intakes of PFOS and PFOA from the consumption of meat, meat products, and eggs, and from dust ingestion, as calculated from our samples in this study, were compared with estimated daily intake of PFCs reported from the concentrations in drinking water, fish and seafood from China. Our calculations indicate that dietary sources (EDI(dietary)) account for the overwhelming proportion of (>99% for PFOS and 98% for PFOA) total daily intake (TDI) in adults. The analyzed foodstuffs (meat, meat products, and eggs) were not the major contributors to dietary exposure to PFOS, whereas, meat was the primary contributor to dietary exposure to PFOA.

The existence of two subpopulations of polar bears in Alaska, the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea populations, has been documented. In this study, differences in concentrations and profiles of organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and perfluorinated acids were examined in livers of polar bears from the two subpopulations in Alaska. Concentrations of most of the organohalogens analyzed were greater in the Beaufort Sea subpopulation than in the Chukchi Sea subpopulation, except for HCHs and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), which were high in samples from the Chukchi Sea subpopulation. Concentrations of chlordanes, PCBs, and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) were significantly different between the two subpopulations. Chlordane was the predominant contaminant in the Beaufort Sea population, and PFOS was the major contaminant in the Chukchi Sea population. Polar bears from the Beaufort Sea showed significantly higher proportions of more highly chlorinated PCBs than those from the Chukchi Sea. Concentrations of several perfluorinated acids were significantly correlated. Overall, the concentrations and profiles of organohalogens analyzed in the two subpopulations of polar bears suggest differences in the sources of exposures between the two regions of Alaska.

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Two hundred and forty five human blood (whole blood) samples from Chinese donors aged from 0 to 90 yrs were analyzed for 10 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs). Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were the most abundant PFCs found in blood. The median concentration of PFOS was lower in nonadults (i.e., infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents) (2.52-5.55 ng/mL) than in adults (8.07 ng/mL). However, median concentration of PFOA in nonadults (1.23-2.42 ng/mL) was higher than that found in adults (1.01 ng/mL). A significant increase in PFOS (r = 0.468, p < 0.01) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) (r = 0.357, p < 0.01) concentrations with age was found, while PFOA concentrations (r = -0.344, p < 0.01) were negatively correlated with age. No significant gender-related differences in PFC concentrations were found across all ages. The composition profiles of PFCs, as identified by principal component analysis, varied for each age group; this suggested differences in sources and pathways of exposure to PFCs for different age groups. Based on the blood PFC concentration, we estimated the daily intake of PFOS by adults using a one-compartment toxicokinetic model. The modeled daily intake of PFOS agreed well with the calculated daily intake via diet and indoor dust (0.74 vs 1.19 ng/kg b.w. for males, 1.20 vs 1.15 ng/kg b.w. for females) suggesting that dietary intake and dust ingestion are the major exposure routes to PFOS exposure in China. This is the first comprehensive study on PFCs in human blood from infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents in China. The data are valuable for understanding the sources and pathways of human exposure to PFCs for different age groups.

Siloxanes are used in a wide variety of personal-care and other consumer products. Although there is clearly a potential for contamination of indoor dust with siloxanes, reports of occurrence of siloxanes in indoor dust were not available, prior to the present study. Here, we have determined the concentrations and profiles of four cyclic siloxanes, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D(4)), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D(5)), dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D(6)), and tetradecamethylcycloheptasiloxane (D(7)), as well as 11 linear siloxanes, from L(4)-L(14), in 100 dust samples collected in China. Cyclic and linear siloxanes were found in all dust samples, with the linear siloxanes L(9)-L(14) being the predominant compounds. Concentrations of total siloxanes in dust ranged from 21.5 to 21,000 (mean: 1540 +/- 2850) ng g(-1). The highest concentration of the individual linear siloxanes, L(9)-L(14), ranged between 2680 and 6170 ng g(-1). Concentrations of total linear siloxanes (TLS) were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than concentrations of total cyclic siloxanes (TCS), in all indoor dust samples. Siloxane concentrations in dust were associated with the number of electrical/electronic appliances, number of occupants, and smokers living in the house. Based on the measured siloxane concentrations and on estimated daily ingestion rates of dust by toddlers and adults, we calculated the daily intake of siloxanes. For adults, daily exposure to total siloxanes, based on an average dust intake rate and median exposure concentration, was calculated to be 15.9 ng day(-1); the corresponding value for toddlers was 32.8 ng d(-1).