Determination of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) along with probabilistic health risk assessment in fruit juice samples in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

In the present study, magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) method and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) technique were used to measure 6 PAE in fruit juice samples. The mean of total phthalic acid esters (ƩPAEs) in all samples was 3.55 ± 0.66 µg/L. The mean concentration of DEHP (bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) in samples was 0.82 ± 0.31 µg/L, which was lower than the mentioned United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standard level in drinking water (6 μg/L for DEHP). The pineapple juice samples (4.44 ± 0.57 µg/L) and mango juice samples (2.77 ± 0. 1 µg/L) had maximum and minimum mean levels of ƩPAEs, respectively. Also, results showed that brand B (3.76 ± 0.87 µg/L) and samples in the time of expiration date (3.64 ± 0.72 µg/L) had the highest PAE levels. The rank order Chronic Daily Intake (95%) values for adults were DEHP ($5.26E-04$) > butylbenzyl phthalates (BBP) ($4.73E-04$) > diethyl phthalate (DEP) ($3.77E-04$) and for children were DEHP ($9.93E-04$) > BBP (9.07E-04) > DEP ($7.01E-04$), which were below the tolerable daily intake (TDI) value. The noncancer risk of PAEs based on the target hazard quotient (THQ) was acceptable (< 1). The results exhibited that the Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) was below the permissible limit (< $1E-04$). Therefore, the risk of carcinogenicity and noncarcinogenicity of PAEs in juices does not have adverse effects on human health.