Objective To detect the concentrations of phthalate esters (PEs) in cosmetics and to assess the health risk of PEs in female college students.
Methods Seventeen kinds of PEs in 99 cosmetic samples were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Usage of cosmetics in female students from 2 colleges in Shanghai was surveyed by questionnaire. Health risks of PEs for female students were assessed by cumulative risk assessment.
Results The test results showed that 10 out of 17 PEs were detected in at least one cosmetic sample. The highest detection rate was observed for diethyl phthalate (DEP)(48.5%), followed by bis(2-methoxyethyl) phthalate (DMEP)(10.1%). DMEP and DEP were the most exposed PEs in the selected female college students (geometric means were 38.0 µg/d and 28.6 µg/d respectively), followed by bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)(7.1 µg/d), diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)(3.8 µg/d), and dibutyl phthalate (DBP)(3.8 µg/d). The average levels and the maximum levels of the above 5 PEs were used for cumulative risk assessment and the corresponding values of hazard index (HI) were 0.01 and 0.4 respectively, both far less than 1.
Conclusion Though multiple PEs are detected in cosmetic products, such exposure levels raise a relative low level of health risk in the target female college students.
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