Dermal exposure to plasticizers in nail polishes: An alternative major exposure pathway of phosphorus-based compounds

Abstract

Phosphorus-based compounds are used as plasticizers in the manufacture of many products found in the indoor environment. Here we quantitatively investigated dermal exposure to phosphorus-based compounds contained in 45 nail polishes purchased in Japan. The alternative plasticizer triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) was detected in some samples of the nail polishes made in the USA (concentration, 1.1-1.8 wt%). The potential dermal exposure rates for TPhP, estimated using ConsExpo (version 5.0; Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), were in the range 200 (5%ile)-1700 (50%ile)-5000 (95%ile) ng kg-bw^-1 day^-1, which is more than 1400 times the reported values for exposure via dust ingestion and inhalation. Thus, dermal exposure via nail polish may be a major route of exposure to TPhP. The margin of exposure range for TPhP was 3.6 × 10⁵-4.1 × 10⁴-1.4 × 10⁴. For comparison, the potential dermal exposure rate range for the conventional plasticizer dibutyl phthalate and the alternative plasticizer acetyl tributyl citrate was 360-3500-14,000 and 430-4100-17,000 ng kg-bw^-1 day^-1, respectively, and the margin of exposure range was 4.1 × 10³-4.2 × 10²-1.1 × 10² and 2.3 × 10⁵-2.4 × 10⁴-5.9 × 10³, respectively.

Keywords: Dermal exposure; Dibutyl phthalate; Nail polish; Plasticizer; Risk assessment; Triphenyl phosphate.