Concentrations of PAEs in human breast milk from China

Concentrations of PAEs in human breast milk from China
Order 100% Plagiarism free paper

Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are mainly used as plasticizers to increase
the flexibilities and durability of plastic products, such as children’s
toys and food packages. In addition, they also had a broad range of
industrial and household applications. The total production of PAEs
exceed 8 million tons/year around the world, and about 2.2 million tons
of PAEs were manufactured in China each year. Since PAEs are not
chemically bound to the polymeric matrix, PAEs can easily be released
into the environment during their manufacturing and application
processes. Widespread applications of PAE-containing products have led
to their ubiquitous detections in surface water, sediment, indoor dust,
biota, and human urine. The di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and
bis-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) are always the predominant PAE
congeners determined in environment matrixes and humans.
Breast milk is the predominant or exclusive food source of nourishment
for newborns at the first 6 months. PAE levels in breast milk can
reflect their lactation exposure for breastfed infants. A better
understanding of the occurrence of PAEs in breast milk is essential to
evaluate the daily intake of PAEs for infants.