Inhalation and Dermal Uptake of Particle and Gas-Phase Phthalates—A Human Exposure Study

Abstract

Phthalates are ubiquitous in indoor environments, which raises concern about their endocrine-disrupting properties. However, studies of human uptake from airborne exposure are limited. We studied the inhalation uptake and dermal uptake by air-to-skin transfer with clean clothing as a barrier of two deuterium-labeled airborne phthalates: particle-phase D₄-DEHP (di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate) and gas-phase D₄-DEP (diethyl phthalate). Sixteen participants, wearing trousers and long-sleeved shirts, were under controlled conditions exposed to airborne phthalates in four exposure scenarios: dermal uptake alone and combined inhalation + dermal uptake of both phthalates. The results showed an average uptake of D₄-DEHP by inhalation of 0.0014 ± 0.00088 (μg kg^-1 bw)/(μg m^-3)/h. No dermal uptake of D₄-DEHP was observed during the 3 h exposure with clean clothing. The deposited dose of D₄-DEHP accounted for 26% of the total inhaled D₄-DEHP mass. For D₄-DEP, the average uptake by inhalation + dermal was 0.0067 ± 0.0045 and 0.00073 ± 0.00051 (μg kg^-1 bw)/(μg m^-3)/h for dermal uptake. Urinary excretion factors of metabolites after inhalation were estimated to 0.69 for D₄-DEHP and 0.50 for D₄-DEP. Under the described settings, the main uptake of both phthalates was through inhalation. The results demonstrate the differences in uptake of gas and particles and highlight the importance of considering the deposited dose in particle uptake studies.