It has become increasingly evident in recent years that the dialkyl phthalate esters are widely distributed in our environment (1-4). As an explanation of this wide distribution there are many possible pathways by which these chemicals can be introduced into the human body. Jaeger and Rubin (5) have shown that di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) can be found in the tissues of patients who have rec...

Few studies have examined the association between environmental phthalate exposure and children's neurocognitive development. This longitudinal study examined cognitive function in relation to pre-and postnatal phthalate exposure in children 2-12 years old. We recruited 430 pregnant women in their third trimester in Taichung, Taiwan from 2001-2002. A total of 110, 79, 76, and 73 children were f...

A method based on cloud point extraction was developed to determine phthalate esters including di-ethyl-phthalate (DEP), di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) and di-cyclohexyl-phthalate (DCP) in environmental water samples using high-performance liquid chromatography separation and ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV). The non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114 was chosen as extraction solvent. The paramet...

The effects of mono- and dibutyl phthalate and mono- and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate on energy-dependent K+ uptake, respiration rates, and succinate cytochrome c reductase activities of isolated rat liver mitochondria were evaluated. The energy-coupling processes, active K+ transport and oxidative phosphorylation, were affected most by di-n-butyl phthalate and mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate. Mono-...

Phthalic acid esters may be used as plasticizers in food-packaging materials that have direct contact with food. Under normal conditions of use small amounts of the plasticizers would be expected to migrate into the food. The safe use of the phthalic acid esters under these conditions is based on available toxicity data, as well as regulations which, in general, specify the maximum extractable ...

The hepatic effects of phthalate esters and related compounds on peroxisomal and microsomal enzyme activities were investigated in the intact animal and in primary hepatocyte cultures. In vitro studies with a series of phthalate monoesters demonstrated structure activity differences in the induction of the specific peroxisomal marker KCN-insensitive palmitoyl-CoA oxidation and also of carnitine...

This paper presents a short review of the available carcinogenicity tests which have been carried out on various phthalate esters prior to the availability of the National Cancer Institute bioassay studies. All of these studies suffer from diverse limitations in design or reporting when compared to more recent experimental protocols and reports. There are three papers related to di(2-ethylhexyl...