Biomonitoring of 21 phthalate metabolites in Slovak pre-school and school age children related to their consumer practices

Consumer practices are considered to be the main source of human exposure to phthalates. The aim of our study was biomonitoring of low molecular weight phthalate (LMWP) and high molecular weight phthalate (HMWP) metabolites in Slovak pre-school (n=100; age range 1-6 years) and school age children (n= 96; age range 7-15 years) and relate exposures to consumer practices. We used high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry for spot urine sample analysis to determine concentrations of 21 phthalate monoesters, metabolites of 11 LMWP and HMWP diesters. Median concentrations of ∑LMWP (177.32 µg.L⁻¹) were close to the ∑HMWP (169.83 µg.L⁻¹) metabolites. We observed significantly (p≤0.05) higher concentrations of 5 LMWP and 4 HMWP metabolites in school-age compared to preschool-age children. Data showed several statistically significant associations (p≤0.05) between concentrations of phthalate metabolites and the consumption of food and beverages. Interestingly, we observed for all HMWP metabolites (except mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate MEHP) and 1 LMWP metabolite (mono-methyl phthalate MMP) significantly lower concentrations in children who used at least 2 personal care products in comparison to non-users. Unexpected results suggest that potential routes of exposure differ from consumer practices included in our study.