Butyl Benzyl Phthalate in Urban Sewage by Magnetic-Based Immunoassay: Environmental Levels and Risk Assessment

A magnetic-based immunoassay (MBI) combined with biotin-streptavidin amplification was proposed for butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) investigation and risk assessment. The values of LOD (limit of detection, IC10) and IC50 were 0.57 ng/mL and 119.61 ng/mL, with a detection range of 0.57–24977.71 ng/mL for MBI. The specificity, accuracy and precision are well demonstrated. A total of 36 environmental water samples of urban sewage from Zhenjiang, China, were collected and assessed for BBP contamination. The results show that BBP-positive levels ranged from 2.47 to 89.21 ng/mL, with a positive rate of 77.8%. The health effects of BBP in the urban sewage were within a controllable range, and the ambient severity for health (ASI) was below 1.49. The highest value of AS for ecology (ASII) was 7.43, which indicates a potential harm to ecology. The entropy value of risk quotient was below 100, the highest being 59.47, which poses a low risk to the environment and ecology, indicating that there is a need to strengthen BBP controls. The non-carcinogenic risk of BBP exposure from drinking water was higher for females than that for males, and the non-carcinogenic risk from drinking-water and bathing pathways was negligible. This study could provide an alternative method for detecting BBP and essential information for controlling BBP contamination.

n-Butyl Benzyl Phthalate Exposure Promotes Lesion Survival in a Murine Endometriosis Model

Endometriosis is an inflammatory and estrogen-dependent gynecological disease associated with exposure to environmental endocrine disruptors. n-Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), a ubiquitous plasticizer, has weak estrogenic activity, and exposure to BBP is associated with endometriosis. We aimed to elucidate the immunomodulatory effect of BBP on endometriosis development. We previously established a surgery-induced endometriosis-like murine model. In the present study, we exposed those mice to BBP 10 days prior to surgery and 4 weeks after surgery at physiologically relevant doses to mimic human exposure. Chronic exposure to BBP did not promote the growth of endometriotic lesions; however, the lesion survival rate in BBP-treated mice did increase significantly compared with control mice. Multiparametric flow cytometry showed that BBP exposure did not affect the homeostasis of infiltrated immune subsets in lesions but did enhance CD44 (adhesion marker) expression on plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). Blocking CD44 interactions locally inhibited endometriotic lesion growth. Immunofluorescence results further confirmed that CD44 blocking inhibited pDC infiltration and reduced the frequency of CD44+ pDCs in endometriotic tissues. BBP also disrupted the estrus cycle in these mice. This study suggests that chronic exposure to low-dose BBP may promote survival of endometriotic tissue through CD44-expressing pDCs.

RESEARCH FOR FORMING POROUS STRUCTURES BASED ON PVC

In this work, we report on phase equilibrium in systems «plasticizer mix - blowing agent». Dioctiphthalate, butylbenzylphthalate and dicresyl phosphate were used as plasticizer, and simple oligoesters (ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol) served as a blowing agent. We conducted an experiment and built triple phase diagrams. Diphenylcresylphosphate proved to be fully compatible with diethylene and triethylene glycol, but not to the ethylene one. Triple systems «Butyl benzyl phthalate - Diphenylcresylphosphate - Simple oligoesters» turned out to be homogeneous for several created compounds. To achieve this for a triple system, the minimal quantity threshold is either 20% of triethylene glycol or 30% of diethylene. As for the case of dioctyl phthalate for second plasticizer, the minimal threshold for blowing agents is 70%. We constructed a device that allows to detect phase equilibrium for liquid systems. We devised several compounds and a technological proccess for creating porous PVC-based membranes using thermal molding. We selected such molding due to several advantages when compared to other methods for producing porous membranes, such as: required density, elasticity, open pores, and narrow pore size distribution. We managed to create several samples based on emulsion type PVC, butyl benzyl phthalate, diphenylcresyl phosphate, diethylene and triethylene glycol. During the phase inversion thermal process temperature should be around 180 degrees of celsium. Porous materials have the following properties: open porosity 38-44%, breaking strength 1.0 – 1.2 MРa, relative extension 43-63%, maximal pore size (2.3 – 2.8)·10-6 m, average pore size (0.5 – 1.1)·10-6 m.