Determination of phthalates compounds migrating from plastic containers to aquatic and food products by using HPLC and estimation of their daily intake.

The objectives of this study were the determination of the phthalates Diethyl phthalate (DEP), Dibutyl phthalate (DBP), Tributyl 2-acetyl citrate (TB2-AC), Diethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP), and Diisononyl phthalate (DiNP) in food products packed in plastic containers and to estimate the daily intake and the daily intake per kg body weight for a group of fifty volunteer. Food samples were obtained from markets in the city of Mosul, Iraq, and their chemical compositions, that may affect the migration of phthalates to the foods were determined. Results showed that all phthalates were found almost in all food products with the phthalate TB2-AC the most abundant. Water, pickled mango and sesame tahenia samples contained the highest quantities of phthalates at 3.994, 3.229 and 3.058 ng/g(ml). Sesame tahenia contained the highest amounts of DEP (0.900 ng/g), while water contained the highest amount of DBP (1.430 ng/ml), pickled mango was highest in TB2-AC (3.015 ng/g), ketchup was highest in DEHP (0.438 ng/g) and lemon juice concentrate was highest in DiNP (0.084 ng/ml). Results also revealed that the highest intake of phthalates were TB2-AC, DBP and DEP with 2304.873 ng/day and the intake per kg of body weight was 433.16 ng. For the daily intake of total phthalates, water participated in the highest intake with 5043.597 ng/day with a daily intake per kg body weight 72.570 ng, milk and sesame tahenia resulted in daily intake of 240.643 and 88.658 ng and a daily intake per kg of body weight of 3.462 and 1.277 ng, respectively.