Objective To explore the exposure levels and influencing factors of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in primary school children in Harbin.
Methods Grade 1 pupils (n=100) and grade 5 pupils (n=100) were randomly selected from a primary school in Harbin. They were asked to provide a urine sample and complete a questionnaire on general demographic characteristics, living habits, and growth and development related information. N-hexane extraction plus gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to determine the exposure le vels of three PAEs metabolites including monoethyl phthalate (MEP), monobutyl phthalate (MBP), and mono(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (MEHP) in urine samples.
Results A total of 168 urine samples matched for valid questionnaires were collected. The positive rates of MEP, MBP, and MEHP were 20.83%, 13.69%, and 95.24%, respectively. The positive rate of MBP was lower in the grade 5 children (7.79%) than the grade 1 children (18.68%) (P=0.045) and in the children using other material cups (11.11%) than those using plastic cups (23.81%) (P=0.003). The positive rate of MEP was lower in the children with a weekly house cleaning frequency of once a day (12.96%) than those cleaned once ≥ 2 days (38.33%) (P=0.000) and in the children with a weekly dinning out frequency < 3 times than those with a weekly frequency ≥ 3 times (31.48%) (P=0.026). According to the results of multiple logistic regression analysis, a high weekly dinning out frequency was a risk factor (OR=2.663, 95%CI:1.587-4.469) and a high weekly house cleaning frequency was a protective factor (OR=0.314, 95%CI:0.133-0.741) for MEP exposure, and using plastic cups was a risk factor for MBP (OR=15.873, 95%CI:4.902-52.632) and MEHP (OR=5.682, 95%CI:1.277-25.641) exposure.
Conclusion Children can be exposed to PAEs in multiple ways. Different family lifestyles and habits may have impacts on children's exposure to PAEs.
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