Phthalates and Their Impacts on Human Health

Abstract

Phthalates are a series of widely used chemicals that demonstrate to be endocrine disruptors and are detrimental to human health. Phthalates can be found in most products that have contact with plastics during producing, packaging, or delivering. Despite the short half-lives in tissues, chronic exposure to phthalates will adversely influence the endocrine system and functioning of multiple organs, which has negative long-term impacts on the success of pregnancy, child growth and development, and reproductive systems in both young children and adolescents. Several countries have established restrictions and regulations on some types of phthalates; however, we think that more countries should establish constraints or substitute measures for phthalates to reduce health risks. This article aims to summarize the adverse impacts of phthalates on human health, analyze the toxicity mechanism, assess the risks, and finally provide feasible strategies to reduce exposure of the public to phthalates.

Endoglin Modulates TGFβR2 Induced VEGF and Proinflammatory Cytokine Axis Mediated Angiogenesis in Prolonged DEHP-Exposed Breast Cancer Cells

“…EDs are often found in many products, such as plastic, cosmetics and hygiene products, personal care products, packaging, medical devices, heavy metals, and furniture [ 17 ]. One ED/EDC is phthalates or phthalic acid, which are used to enhance the durability and flexibility of plastic products and are reported to exert detrimental effects on human health [ 18 ]. Some of the studies showed its ubiquitous presence in urine in industrialized countries.…”

Mechanisms of MEHP Inhibitory Action and Analysis of Potential Replacement Plasticizers on Leydig Cell Steroidogenesis

“…It is known that phthalates are not covalently bound to their matrix in PVC and thus are released into the environment (reviewed in [ 10 ]). Consequently, phthalates contaminate food and water chains and can be found in human and animal fluids (reviewed in [ 11 , 12 ]). Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) is the most abundant phthalate.…”

“…In 2004, the worldwide production of DEHP was estimated to be about 2 million metric tons (4.4 billion pounds) (reviewed in [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]). Despite the controversy surrounding its effects, DEHP consumption continued to rise to an estimated 3.07 million metric tons (6.754 billion pounds) in 2017 (reviewed in [ 12 ]).…”

“…Although variable, daily DEHP exposure is estimated in humans at 8 µg/kg of body weight in adults and 25 µg/kg of body weight in children (reviewed in [ 1 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]). Inside the body, phthalates—including DEHP—are metabolized by hydrolysis and conjugation and then eliminated in urine (reviewed in [ 12 ]). During hydrolysis, DEHP is mainly metabolized like other phthalates by intestinal esterase and lipase into two main components: monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) and ethylhexanol [ 22 , 23 ].…”

Occurrence of Phthalates in Bottled Drinks in the Chinese Market and Its Implications for Dietary Exposure

“…As a group of well-studied endocrine-disrupting chemicals, phthalates exposure has been associated with a variety of health effects, including premature thelarche, endometriosis, low semen quality, diabetes, overweight and obesity, allergy and asthma, and reproductive health [ 11 , 12 ]. Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is one of the most-studied phthalates, and accumulative evidence showed that DEHP exposure was significantly related to insulin resistance and higher systolic blood pressure as well as reproductive system problems [ 13 , 14 ]. Potential toxicity mechanisms of DEHP exposure include the activation of Kupffer’s cells and the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPARα) [ 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”