Phthalate ester levels in agricultural soils of greenhouses, their potential sources, the role of plastic cover material, and dietary exposure calculated from modeled concentrations in tomato.

Soil samples collected from 50 greenhouses (GHs) cultivated with tomatoes (plastic-covered:24, glass-covered:26), 5 open-area tomato growing farmlands, and 5 non-agricultural areas were analyzed in summer and winter seasons for 13 PAEs. The total concentrations (Σ13PAEs) in the GHs ranged from 212 to 2484 ng/g, wheeas the concentrations in open-area farm soils were between 240 and 1248 ng/g. Σ13PAE in non-agricultural areas was lower (35.0 - 585 ng/g). PAE exposure through the ingestion of tomatoes cultivated in GH soils and associated risks were estimated with Monte Carlo simulations after calculating the PAE concentrations in tomatoes using a partition-limited model. DEHP was estimated to have the highest concentrations in the tomatoes grown in both types of GHs. The mean carcinogenic risk caused by DEHP for tomato grown in plastic-covered GHs, glass-covered GHs, and open-area soils were 2.4 × 10-5, 1.7 × 10-5 and 1.1 × 10-5, respectively. Based on Positive Matrix Factorization results, plastic material usage in GHs (including plastic cover material source for plastic-GHs) was found to be the highest contributing source in both types of GHs. Microplastic analysis indicated that the ropes and irrigation pipes inside the GHs are important sources of PAE pollution. Pesticide application is the second highest contributing source.

Concentration of phthalate esters in indoor and outdoor dust in Kocaeli, Turkey: implications for human exposure and risk.

The interest in phthalate esters (PAEs) has increased in recent years because elevated phthalate levels have been detected in environmental matrices and they have certain adverse effects on human health. Indoor dust from 90 homes and outdoor (street) dust from outside these homes were collected in Kocaeli province between February and April 2016 and analyzed for eight PAEs. The total indoor dust concentrations of eight PAEs (Σ8PAEs) ranged from 21.33 µg g-1 to 1802 µg g-1 (median, 387.67 µg g-1), significantly higher than outdoor dust concentrations (0.16-36.85 µg g-1 with median 4.84 µg g-1). Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) was the most dominant pollutant in both indoor and outdoor environments with a median value of 316.02 µg g-1 and 3.89 µg g-1, respectively, followed by di-n-butyl phthalate and butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP). DEHP was measured within the range of 198.54-816.92 µg g-1 and BBP within the range of 15.52-495.33 µg g-1 in homes with PVC coating, significantly higher than the levels in homes with parquet and tiled floor (p<0.05). Monte Carlo simulation was applied to probabilistically estimate exposure to PAEs and associated carcinogenic risk. The Σ5PAE median values of non-dietary ingestion and dermal absorption exposure were estimated as 1.57 µg kg day-1 and 0.007 µg kg day-1 for children and 0.09 µg kg day-1 and 0.04 µg kg day-1 for adults while inhalation route exposure to PAE in dust was at a negligible level for both groups. Children were more exposed to PAEs through ingestion route (92.74% to 99.54% of the total exposure) while adult exposure through ingestion routes (62-68.4%) and dermal absorption (29.74% and 31.87% of the total exposure) were comparable. The mean cancer risk level via non-dietary ingestion of DEHP for children was 2.33×10-6, about eight times higher than the levels for adults. The risk levels of about 16% of adults and 95% of children are greater than the threshold value of 10-6 when the population is exposed to DEHP in indoor dust. Looking from the viewpoint of child health, the most effective method to reduce exposure among the measured PAEs is to keep the release of DEHP under control, especially in indoor environment, and to take precautions to reduce exposure.

Improvement of uptake rate equations depending on meteorological conditions for 25 volatile organic compounds.

Stainless steel passive (diffusive) sampling tubes manufactured by Gradko International Ltd. (UK) were filled with Chromosorb 106 (Supelco) and evaluated to determine the uptake rates of 31 VOCs over six months under different meteorological conditions in a suburban area of Ankara, Turkey. The URs have been calculated, and dependence on such meteorological parameters as temperature, relative humidity and wind speed has been established for the 31 VOCs. The URs of the 31 VOCs measured in this study showed a statistically significant decreasing trend with rising temperature; and weaker, but again statistically significant, increasing trends with increasing relative humidity and wind speed. This study has demonstrated that the URs of VOCs are affected by meteorological parameters, and this dependence should be taken into account when attempting to generate reliable data through passive sampling. A multiple linear regression equation in which temperature, relative humidity and wind speed were used as independent variables was generated for 25 of the 31 tested VOCs.