Distribution And Health Risk Of Harmful Chemicals In Sanitary Napkins And Children's Clothing

In the production of textile-related products such as children's clothing and sanitary napkins,a large amount of organic and inorganic chemical agents are often added to improve the product performance.Phthalate esters(PAEs)and heavy metals are two typical chemical additives.PAEs are often used extensively as plasticizers to alter the ductility and stability of polymers.Cr,Pb and Cu are usually added to the product as pigments,stabilizers and colorants.At the same time,PAEs have the effect of environmental estrogen,it can seriously interfere with animal's endocrine and reproductive system;excessive heavy metals can cause greater harm to human health.At present,researches on PAEs and heavy metal pollution mainly concentrated in environmental media,the research on their occurrence and health risk is still limited.Sanitary napkin is a typical female hygiene products,because of the particularity of the exposure route,control of the pollution is of great significance to women's health.Children's clothing is an important way to be exposed to heavy metals and PAEs for children.However,studies on PAEs and heavy metal pollution about children's clothing and sanitary napkins are limited.The relationship between product contamination and product characteristics and the potential exposure risk are unclear,especially,there have been no reports on PAEs in sanitary napkins at home and abroad.Therefore,in this study,samples of commercially available children's wear and sanitary napkins in a typical country were collected,the content of PAEs and heavy metals was analyzed,the relationship between distribution and characteristics of products was investigated,and the health risks were evaluated,in order to provide scientific basis for health risk management of children's clothing and sanitary napkin products.The pollution characteristics of 16 PAEs in sanitary napkins from China,Korea,Japan,UK,Germany,USA and Australia were studied.The results showed that the contents of ?16PAEs in the sanitary napkins ranged from 2.71 mg/kg to 13.8 mg/k,diisobutyl phthalate(DIBP),di-n-butyl phthalate(DBP)and di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate(DEHP)is the three highest content of monomers,the three accounted for 73.5% of the total content of PAEs;Foreign sanitary napkins PAEs were slightly lower than the domestic products,the distribution of PAEs homologues was similar to those from China.The study also found that low-priced sanitary napkins contaminated more serious,the content of PAEs in the napkins with aroma was significantly higher,which may be related to the artificial addition during processing.There is no relevant standards about PAEs in sanitary napkins at home and abroad.The health risk of dimethyl phthalate(DMP),diethyl phthalate(DEP),DIBP,DBP,butylbenzyl phthalate(BBP)and DEHP in sanitary napkins showed that the carcinogenic risk is acceptable,but the carcinogenic risk of DEHP in a few sanitary napkins is beyond acceptable levels of human.The average contents of Cr,Zn,Ni,Pb,Cu,Co,As and Cd in sanitary napkins were 13.3,11.9,5.04,0.67,0.38,0.06,0.06 and 0.006 mg/kg,respectively.The levels of heavy metals in foreign sanitary napkins are lower than the domestic sample except Cr.The heavy metals content in low-price sanitary napkins were significantly higher.Cr,Zn,Co and Cu in sanitary napkins may be derived from the addition of anti-mildew antibacterial agent.The non-carcinogenic risk of heavy metals in sanitary napkins and the cumulative non-carcinogenic risk of eight heavy metals are acceptable,but the carcinogenic risk of As is above 10-6,which should be taken seriously.Sixteen kinds of PAEs in children's clothing from China,Korea,UK and USA were studied.The content of ?16PAEs in children's clothing from China ranged from 2.97 mg/kg to 40.0 mg/kg,slightly lower than the level of foreign children's clothing.In all children's clothing,DIBP,DBP,DEHP and dioctyl phthalate(DNOP)are the major PAEs contaminants,accounting for more than 80% of the total PAEs.In this study,the sum of PAEs and the contents of DEHP,DBP and BBP did not exceed the safety standard limits of GB31701-2015,GB/T18885-2009 and Oeko-Tex? Standard100.The study found that the contamination of DBP in cotton children's clothing is more serious,while the PAEs content of coated children's clothing was significantly higher,especially the most obvious differences in DNOP,it may be related to the textile industry using PAEs for mortar printing,waterproof coating.The non-carcinogenic risk of DMP,DEP,DIBP,DBP,BBP,DEHP and DNOP in children's clothing is acceptable,but the carcinogenic risk of DEHP is close to 10-6.The average contents of Cu,Ni,Cr,Zn,Pb,As,Co and Cd in children's clothing from China were 66.8,16.4,15.9,9.39,1.07,0.13,0.12 and 0.003 mg/kg.The contents of Co and Zn in foreign children's clothing were 2-fold higher than the children's clothing from China,the content of other heavy metals are lower than domestic.The levels of Pb and Cd in all children's clothing did not exceed the limits for total Pb and total Cd in the Oeko-Tex? Standard100(2016 version)and GB 31701-2015.The content of As,Cu and Ni in blended children's clothing was about 2-fold higher than pure cotton sample,while the pure cotton sample contains a high concentration of Zn;blue,green,black and colored children's clothing were rich in Ni and Cu,may be derived from metal complex dyes.The non-carcinogenic risk of 8 kinds of heavy metals in children's clothing and the cumulative non-carcinogenic risk of 8 kinds of heavy metals are acceptable,but As may have certain carcinogenic risk,should pay attention to.