The presence of phthalate esters (PAEs) in the environment has gained a considerable attention due to their potential impacts on public health. This study reports the first data on the occurrence of 15 PAEs in the water near the Mopanshan Reservoir-the new and important water source of Harbin city in Northeast China. As drinking water is a major source for human exposure to PAEs, the fate of ta...

A Gram-negative strain (TJ) capable of growing aerobically on mixed phthalate esters (PAEs) as the sole carbon and energy source was isolated from the Haihe estuary, Tianjin, China. It was identified as belonging to the Sphingobium genus on the basis of morphological and physiological characteristics and 16S rRNA and gyrb gene sequencing. The batch tests for biodegradation of di-n-butyl phthala...

EPA's activities concerning phthalate esters have been in four general areas, namely: (1) their status as toxic pollutants under the Clean Water Act; (2) their status as "new chemicals" under Section 5 of TSCA; (3) the potential risk to human beings posed by DEHP; and (4) finally, the need for testing phthalates with respect to their health and environmental effects.

The common commercial use of phthalate esters has resulted in significant human exposure to these bioactive compounds. The facts that phthalate ester metabolites, like endogenous PGs, are peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists, and that PPAR agonists induce lymphocyte apoptosis suggest that phthalate esters are immunosuppressants that could act together with PGs to modulate ...