ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To estimate the daily intake of DEHP among workers in flavoring factories.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>71 workers in two flavoring manufacturers, 27 administrators in those factories and 31 laboratory technicians in a research institute were recruited and assigned to exposure group, control group 1 and control group 2 respectively. Their urinary DEHP metabolites, mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), were detected by isotope dilution-ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-MS/MS). The urinary metabolites concentrations were converted into DEHP intake levels using two pharmacokinetic models: the urine creatinine-excretion (UCE) one and the urine volume (UV) one.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No significant differences were found among the three groups. Based on the urinary concentrations of Σ₃MEHP, we got a median daily DEHP intake of 3.22 or 1.85 μg/kg body-weight/day applying the UV or UCE models respectively. Depending on the UV model, three subjects (2.34%) exceeded the RfD value given by US EPA and the P₅₀ of estimate daily DEHP intakes accounted for 16.10% of the RfD value. No subjects exceeded the limitation depending on the UCE model.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The workers in flavoring factories were not supposed to be the high DEHP exposure ones and their exposure level remained at a low risk.</p>