Phthalates endocrine disruption

These costs and other pressures are now evident throughout the supply chain for a chemical product - from the increasing costs of raw materials, as petroleum becomes more scarce and carbon taxes penalize their use, to a growing awareness amongst end-users of the risks that chemicals are often associated with, and the need to disassociate themselves from any chemical in their supply chain that is recognized as being hazardous (e.g. phthalates, endocrine disrupters, polybromina-ted compounds, heavy metals, etc. Fig. 1.1-2)... 

In addition to their endocrine disrupting properties, it must be appreciated that many of the chemicals in question possess more general toxic properties, which may be potentiated by metabolism by the organism. Several PAHs, PCBs and PCDDs are carcinogenic, while certain phthalate esters can enhance the excretion of zinc, potentially leading to zinc deficiency. Zinc, an essential element, plays a vital role in spermatogenesis and mature T-cell production. Deficiency may result in abnormalities of the male reproductive system, depletion of spermatogenesis and suppression of the immune system. 

Barse, A.V., Chakrabarti, T., Ghosh, T.K. et al. (2007). Endocrine disruption and metabolic changes following exposure of Cyprinus carpio to diethyl phthalate. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology 88, 36-42. 

Xu XR, Li HB, Gu J-D (2005a) Biodegradation of an endocrine-disrupting chemical di- -butyl phthalate ester by Pseudomonas fluorescens B-l. Int Biodeterior Biodegrad 55 9-15... 

L6pez-Roldan P., de Alda M.J.L., and Barcelo D., 2004. Simultaneous determination of selected endocrine disrupters (pesticides, phenols and phthalates) in water by in-field solid-phase extraction (SPE) using the prototype PROFEXS followed by online SPE (PROSPEKT) and analysis by liquid chromatography-atomspheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 378 599. 

From the wide variety of emerging pollutants of industrial origin that could be considered here, bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalate esters (PE) are of especial relevance not only because of the high volumes produced and their widespread use, but also because of their demonstrated toxicity, particularly as endocrine disrupters. Both of them have been included in the final report of the European Commission toward the establishment of a priority list of endocrine disrupter chemicals, EDCs [3], and have been rated as of high risk of exposure for human and wildlife populations. Because of their structural characteristics these compounds cannot be included in any of the groups described above, so they will be described in this section (see Fig. 10). 

Abstract Phthalates are chemicals that have been used for over 80 years in large quantities due to their wide range of applications, mainly in the plastic industry. For many years, these compounds were not considered dangerous for humans due to their low toxicity shown in the preliminary studies and their low persistence. However, research conducted in recent years has evidenced their activity as endocrine disrupters, and they are now considered as emerging contaminants and included in the priority list of dangerous substances in the legislation of many countries. This chapter provides an overview on the properties, major uses, emission sources, environmental and human levels, current legislation, behavior and fate of phthalates, and their metabolites, with special emphasis on their toxicity and human exposure. 

Phthalates are suspected of acting as endocrine disrupters also in humans, affecting male and female reproductive tract development. Exposure to PAEs in adult men has been associated with semen quality and alterations in sexual behavior [104], and with endometriosis and intrauterine inflammation (which is a risk factor for prematurity) in adult women [105, 106], as well as other effects. These studies suggest that DEHP may play a role in inducing the intrauterine inflammatory process. Besides the reproductive effects of PAEs, recent studies have also shown the genotoxicity of DEHP, DBP, and DiBP in human lymphocytes and mucosal cells [107,108]. 

Rudel RA, Camann DE, Spengler JD, Korn LR, Brody JG (2003) Phthalates, alkylphenols, pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and other endocrine-disrupting compounds in indoor air and dust. Environ Sci Technol 37 4543 553... 

One of the groups of suspect chemicals in the most active effluents in the survey was the alkyl phenols. However, there are probably several endocrine disrupting chemicals in the effluents and rivers, as different waste treatment plants may feed into the same river. As well as the alkyl phenols, a large number and variety of chemicals have been found to cause this effea, including organochlorine insecticides such as DDT, organotin compounds, phthalate esters, plant products, dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs, and as expected natural and synthetic oestrogens. 

Latini G, Verrotti A, and De Felice C (2004) Di-2-ethyl-hexyl phthalate and endocrine disruption A review. Current Drug Targets. Immune, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders 4(1) 37-40. 

The perceived potential regarding the possibility that the toxicity of some phthalates like DEHP and DINP may be the result of endocrine disruption is the principal cause for concern over phthalates, however there is a general lack of relevant information concerning possible adverse effects of endocrine-dismpting chemicals on humans at environmental exposure levels. 

Toxicological studies have linked some phthalate esters to liver and kidney damage, and to possible testicular or reproductive birth defect problems, characterizing them as endocrine disruptors. In this way, up to 12 phthalate esters, such as DBF, BBP, DEHP, DIDP, and DINP are within the list of the proposed substances suspected to produce endocrine alterations published by the EU. The endocrine disruption potential of pthalate esters was recently reviewed by Harris and Sumpter. The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ASTDR), the World... 

Brossa et al. developed an automated SPE-GC-MS method for the determination of endocrine disrupting compounds including six phthalate esters. The interface device was a programmed temperature vaporizer (PTV), whose liner was packed with Tenax. The samples were spiked with 50% of methanol and 15 ml of this mixture were preconcentrated. Before elution, the precolumn was dried with nitrogen. The analytes were desorbed in the backflush mode with three ethyl acetate fractions of 100 /rl and online transferred to the GC system. The performance of the method was tested with several environmental water samples. The recoveries achieved were satisfactory and the detection limits were between 1 to 36 ng/1. 

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