Impact of Clothing on Dermal Exposure to Phthalates: Observations and Insights from Sampling Both Skin and Clothing

Clothing can either retard or accelerate dermal exposure to phthalates. To investigate the impact of clothing on dermal exposure to six phthalates (DMP/DEP/DiBP/DnBP/BBzP/DEHP) in real environments, two sets of experiments have been conducted: (1) Skin wipes were collected from 11 adults to examine the phthalate levels on both bare-skin (hand/forehead) and clothing-covered body locations (arm/back/calf); (2) Five adults were asked to wear just-washed jeans for 1 day (1(st) experiment), 5 days (2(nd) experiment), and 10 days (3(rd) experiment). Phthalate levels on their legs were measured on selected days during the wearing period, and phthalate levels in the jeans were measured at the end of each experiment and again after washing. Measured phthalate levels on body locations covered by clothing were lower than those on uncovered locations, but still substantial. Dermal uptake would be underestimated by a factor of 2 to 5 if absorption through body locations covered by clothing were neglected. Phthalate levels in the jeans and on the legs increased with the wearing time. However, the levels in the jeans and on the legs were not strongly correlated, indicating that other pathways, e.g, contact with bedding or bedclothes, likely contribute to the levels on the legs. The efficiency with which laundering washing removed phthalates from the jeans increased with decreasing Kow; median values ranged from very low (<5%) for DEHP to very high (∼75%) for DMP.