Occurrence, migration and health risks of fluorescent whitening agents and phthalates in bottled water

The occurrence and health risks of fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) in bottled water were reported for the first time. FWA184 and FWA393 were the most frequently detected FWAs, with mean concentrations of 3.99–17.00 ng L−1. Phthalates (PAEs) such as dibutyl phthalate (DBP), di-iso-butyl phthalate (DiBP), and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) were prevalent in bottled water, with mean levels of 40.89–716.66 ng L−1, and their concentrations in bottled water were much higher than those of FWAs. FWAs and PAEs in bottles and caps were extracted using organic solvent, and the correlation analysis showed that FWA393 and DEHP most likely originated from bottles, while bottle caps were the main sources of DBP and DiBP. The calculated risk quotients (RQs) of target substances and all age groups were considerably lower than the threshold of 0.1, indicating that consuming bottled water containing these plastic additives was unlikely to pose health risks for people of all ages. However, RQ values for underage people were several times higher than those for adults and hence cannot be neglected; therefore, special attention should be paid to understand the potential risks posed by the exposure to these plastic additives during early life stages, especially the infant stage. As a class of important plastic additives, fluorescent whitening agents (FWAs) and phthalates (PAEs) are indispensable in plastics like plastic water bottles. FWAs exhibit high persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity, while PAEs are endocrine-disrupting chemicals and have estrogenic effects and certain biological toxicity. These substances could easily migrate into bottled water from plastic container, and then threaten human health through drinking bottled water. FWAs have long been neglected by researchers. This study firstly reported the occurrence and potential human health risks of FWAs in bottled water. FWAs were prevalent in bottled water and potential health risks for underage people needs further assessment.