On July 8, 2014 Lenny Bernstein, contributor to The Washington Post, informed that phthalate exposure to infants from food is twice as high as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safe dose. In his article Bernstein refers to a study published in June 2014 in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Environmental Health, which reviewed 17 studies measuring phthalate levels in food and reported high levels of phthalates in meats, dairy products and fats (Serrano et al. 2014). Sheela Sathayanarayana, co-author and associate professor at the University of Washington, U.S., states in the article that, in addition to diet, dust and cosmetics are other sources of phthalate exposure. The researchers used the data to model exposure for four types of diet. Serrano and colleagues identify food contact materials as one of the sources for high phthalate concentrations in food, and mention feed as another. Exposure levels for infants estimated by the researchers exceeded the EPA’s safe level of 20 µg/kg body weight/day by a factor of 2.

Read more

Lenny Bernstein (July 8, 2014). “Phthalates are out of infants’ toys but a heavy dose is still in their food.The Washington Post.

Reference

Serrano, S. (2014). “Phthalates and diet: a review of the food monitoring and epidemiology data.” Environmental Health 13, 43.

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