Human Biomonitoring for Phthalate Exposure in Plastic Industries Worker

Introduction. Phthalates is the common name for the phthalate esters. It is mainly used as plasticizer to impart flexibility and durability. Phthalates have been identified as endocrine disruptors, which affect the human’s hormonal balance, and reproductive diseases including malformation genital, and precocious puberty. Exposure to phthalates in pregnant women has been suggested to cause a decrease in blood pressure, and spontaneous abortion, and can induce Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome (TDS). Due to the potential harm of phthalates to humans, biomonitoring in the worker must be considered. Methods. Relevant reviews were identified via a detailed systematic search on PubMed, Science Direct, and Cochrane databases. All articles were critically appraised using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence assessment. Results. Of the 34 articles identified, 9 studies met the inclusion criteria, and 3 were deemed moderate and high quality. All subjects are workers exposed to several kinds of phthalates. Discussion. An understanding of each phthalate character, urinary elimination half-life, and molar excretion percentages are important to choose the right biomarker of each phthalate. Conclusion. Phthalate human biomonitoring is best achieved through examination of phthalates and their metabolites in urine, for low-molecular-weight, its simple monoester metabolites can be used as biomarkers, for high molecular weight phthalates would be better analyzed using its secondary oxidized metabolites due to its extensively excreted in urine. Currently the most effective method for phthalate biomonitoring analysis is LC/MS. It is recommended to compare the titer between pre-post shift, and nighttime workdays.