In Vitro Inhalation Bioaccessibility of Phthalate Esters ...

Letter Cite This: Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX

pubs.acs.org/journal/estlcu

In Vitro Inhalation Bioaccessibility of Phthalate Esters and Alternative Plasticizers Present in Indoor Dust Using Artificial Lung Fluids Katerina Kademoglou,*,†,‡ Georgios Giovanoulis,§ Anna Palm-Cousins,§ Juan Antonio Padilla-Sanchez,∥ Jörgen Magnér,§ Cynthia A. de Wit,⊥ and Christopher D. Collins*,† †

Soil Research Centre, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6DW, U.K. RECETOX, Masaryk University, Kamenice 753/5, pavilion A29, 62500 Brno, Czech Republic § IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, SE-100 31 Stockholm, Sweden ∥ Domain of Infection Control and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), P.O. Box 4404, Nydalen, 0403 Oslo, Norway ⊥ Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden ‡

S Supporting Information *

ABSTRACT: Phthalate esters (PEs) are used as plasticizers in consumer products. Their low migration stability has resulted in the classification of PEs as major indoor contaminants. Because of PE’s ubiquity and adverse health effects on humans and especially children, non-phthalate alternative plasticizers have been introduced into the market. This is the first study of in vitro inhalation bioaccessibility of PEs (e.g., DMP, DEP, and DEHP) and alternative plasticizers (e.g., DEHT and DINCH) via indoor dust to assess inhalation as an alternative route of exposure. Two artificial lung fluids were used, mimicking two distinctively different pulmonary environments: (1) artificial lysosomal fluid (ALF, pH 4.5) representing the intracellular acidic lung fluid inhaled particle contact after phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages and (2) Gamble’s solution (pH 7.4), the extracellular healthy fluid for deep lung deposition of dust. DMP and DEP were highly bioaccessible (>75%), whereas highly hydrophobic compounds such as DEHP, DINCH, and DEHT were