CONCENTRATIONS OF PHTHALATE ESTERS’ FOUND IN HOMES OF HEALTHY AND ALLERGIC CHILDREN

The incidence of asthma and allergy has increased throughout the developed world over the past 30-50years, roughly the same time period that exposure to phthalates has increased. An ongoing study inSweden, Damp Buildings and Health, showed associations between asthma anddi(2-ethyl-hexyl)-phthalate concentration in dust and between eczema and rhinitis andbutylbenzyl-phthalate. To further investigate the effect of the indoor environment on the prevalence ofallergy and asthma among children, a case control study was conducted in 2004 in Bulgaria, including184 children and in 2006 in Greenland in homes of 43 children. Dust samples were collected in thechilds room, always above the floor. The analysis included six of the most commonly used phthalateesters: diethyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, butyl benzyl phthalate, di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and di-n-octyl phthalate. Phthalates in indoor dust could be found in all samples fromBulgarian and Greenlandic homes, however at different concentrations. The results from Bulgarianhomes confirmed the findings from the Swedish study, showing higher mean concentrations of DEHPand BBzP in homes of cases in comparison to healthy children. For DEHP this difference reachedsignificance.