Estimation of daily oral exposure to phthalates derived from soft polyvinyl chloride baby toys

Abstract

Daily oral exposure of babies to phthalate was estimated on the basis of the mouthing time of infants and the oral concentration of diisononyl phthalate (DINP) released from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) toy specimens. Total mouthing time, including the use of pacifiers, ranged widely from 11.4 min to 351.8 min with the mean of 105.3±72.1 min. The mean of the total mouthing time without pacifiers was 73.9±32.9 min. The average amount of DINP in saliva was 92.4±56.8 μg/10 Cm2/hr, ranging from 13.2 μg/10 cm2/hr to 240.4 μg/10 Cm2/hr. The exposure of phthalate in two different trials was estimated by the method of Monte Carlo simulation, one with the total mouthing time with pacifiers and the other with the total mouthing time without pacifiers. The average exposure in the former trial was 21.4 μg/kg/day and the 95th percentile was 65.8 μg/kg/day, while in the latter it was 11.8 μg/kg/day and the 95th percentile was 35.7 μg/kg/day.