On November 14, 2013 a group of Danish researchers published a study in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology reporting that men’s combined phthalate exposure may occasionally exceed the regulatory limit (Kløve Kranich et al. 2013). The researchers from the Copenhagen University Hospital collected three 24-hour urine samples of 33 Danish men aged 18 to 22. They assessed the urine samples for the sum of di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), di-iso-butyl phthalate (DiBP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-iso-nonyl phthalate (DiNP), and butylbenzyl phthalate (BBzP). They found all men to be exposed to phthalates and measured two instances where one of the three samples exceeded the cumulative acceptable level of exposure. Generally, men with low phthalate levels were observed to maintain low levels and vice versa. Kløve Kranich and colleagues point out that humans are exposed to numerous chemicals other than phthalates via similar pathways and contributing to a cumulative anti-androgenic exposure.
Read more
Chemical Watch (November 21, 2013). “Danish study monitors exposure to phthalate mixtures.”
Reference
Kløve Kranich, S. (2013). “Estimated Daily Intake and Hazard Quotients and Indices of Phthtalate Diesters for Young Danish Men.” Environmental Science & Technology (published online November 5, 2013).
