Biomonitoring of Human Exposure to Phthalates
Kurunthachalam Kannan, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health
and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, State University of New York at
Albany, New York, USA
ABSTRACT
Phthalates are used in a wide variety of consumer products. Although human exposure to
these endocrine disrupting chemicals is inevitable, the sources and pathways of human
exposure are still not well characterized. A biomonitoring approach, that involves measurement
of concentrations of target chemicals in human urine and by use of a simple pharmacokinetic
model, we estimated total daily exposure doses of these chemicals. We also measured these
contaminants in various exposure sources including foodstuffs for the calculation of daily
exposure doses. A comparison was made between exposure doses calculated using
biomonitoring approach and direct measurement of contaminants in food, indoor air and dust.
For diethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP), diet is the major source of exposure whereas that for diethyl
phthalate (DEP), dermal application of cosmetics contributed to major exposures.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Kurunthachalam Kannan is the Chief of the Laboratory of Organic Analytical Chemistry at
Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health in Albany, New York. He holds a
joint appointment as a Professor at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School
of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany. He has published more than 500
research articles in peer-reviewed journals, 20 book chapters and edited a book. Dr. Kannan is
one of the top 10 most highly cited researchers (ISI) in Ecology/Environment. His research is
focused on the environmental distribution, bioaccumulation and human exposure to trace
organic pollutants. Dr. Kannan is a receipt of several international awards and honors
throughout his career and to name a few, he has won Governor’s gold medal in 1986 and
SETAC’s Weston F Roy Environmental Chemistry award in 1999. He has been the editor-inchief of Ecotoxiocology and Environmental Safety. He has mentored more than 10 Master’s
and doctoral level students and advised more than 20 postdoctoral research associates in his
laboratory and secured more than 15 million dollars in research grants in the past 10 years.
th
8 Annual NYS Biotechnology Symposium
- May 19 & 20, 2016 -