Levels, distribution, and health risk assessment of phthalic acid esters in urban surface soils of Nagpur city, India

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 196; no. 11; p. 1084
• Main Authors: Singh, Ishan, Kanade, Gajanan Sitaramji, Kumar, Asirvatham Ramesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.11.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acidic soils; Adults; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Butyl phthalate; Children; Chronic toxicity; Dioctyl phthalate; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Management; Esters; Health risks; Industrial areas; Ingestion; Land use; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Phthalate esters; Phthalates; Phthalic acid; Public health; Residential areas; Risk assessment; Risk management; Risk reduction; Soil; Soil pollution; Soil quality; Soil surfaces; Soils; India; Central India; Phthalic acid esters; PAEs profile; Urban soil; Health risk assessment
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-13281-y

Surface soil samples from residential, commercial, and industrial areas of Nagpur city, India, were collected to study the levels, distribution, and impact of land use patterns on phthalic acid ester (PAEs) contamination. The Σ 6 PAEs concentrations in soils from residential, commercial, and industrial areas ranged between 6,493 to 13,195 µg/kg, 707 to 18,446 µg/kg, and 1,882 to 5,004 µg/kg with medians of 10,399, 6,199, and 3,401 µg/kg, respectively. Bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and dimethyl phthalate (DMP) were the dominant PAEs in the urban soils. The concentrations of DEHP and DMP were significantly greater than those in Ontario's soil quality guidelines. Among the PAEs, benzyl-butyl phthalate (BzBP) was found at relatively high concentrations (1,238 and 9,171 µg/kg) at two locations (i.e., S1 and S15). The chronic toxic risk (CTR) of PAEs was below the threshold, although the risk to children through ingestion and dermal exposure routes was greater than that to adults. The CR due to BzBP and DEHP were below the threshold level; however, the CR due to DMP was > 1 × 10 –6 in residential areas. The cumulative CR of the six PAEs for adults (1.33–1.41 × 10 –5 ) and children (8.08–8.89 × 10 –6 ) surpassed the threshold level. This study revealed that PAEs in urban soils pose a risk to public health and require immediate risk reduction strategies. Graphical Abstract