Assessing human exposure to phthalic acid and phthalate esters from mineral water stored in polyethylene terephthalate and glass bottles

Overview & Synopsis

Abstract. Phthalic acid and phthalates esters present a growing interest due to a large use and to their potential toxicity. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and glass are both widely used materials for the bottling of drinking water. In this study, phthalic acid (PhA), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), diisobutyl phthalate (DiisoBP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) were analyzed in a large pool of Italian bottled water samples. PET and glass bottled water show a different phthalates load and in PET recipients concentrations are nearly twenty times higher than the ones from the glass bottles with 3.52 and 0.19 μg L-1 (sum of the analyzed phthalates) respectively. However, the observed levels do not represent a significant exposure pathway when considering the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reference dose (an estimate of a daily oral exposure to the human population (including sensitive subgroups) that is likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime). Also, no significant correlation was found between the phthalate concentration and the water physicochemical properties apart from the still/sparkling water parameter for the PET recipient. In this way, slightly higher concentrations were observed for the PET bottled still water than for the sparkling water even if no explanation has been found yet.