Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Phthalate esters (PAEs) in soil and vegetables in solar greenhouses irrigated with reclaimed water

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Phthalate esters (PAEs) in environments have become a public concern due to their harmful impacts on human and environments, and waste/reclaimed water irrigation maybe one of their sources in agricultural soil. A field experiment was setup to analyze the impacts of reclaimed water irrigation on levels of PAEs in vegetables and topsoil in solar greenhouse on the North China Plain during 2015 and 2016. There were 6 varieties of vegetables. For each variety, there were three irrigation treatments, including groundwater irrigation, reclaimed water irrigation, and alternative irrigation with groundwater and reclaimed water (1:1, v/v). The results show that the levels of the 6 PAEs in soil and vegetables varied between 0.73 and 9.48 mg/kg and 1.89 and 6.35 mg/kg, respectively. There were no significant differences for PAE concentrations among these different treatments at each vegetable harvest (p > 0.05). For both soil and vegetable samples, Di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were the most dominant PAEs, with contents of 0.39–4.43 mg/kg and 0.25–6.31 mg/kg, respectively, contributing12.5–74.60% and 21.24–76.48% of the total 6 PAEs, respectively. The contents of DnBP and dimethyl phthalate (DMP) in topsoil were higher than the suggested allowable values, while the concentration of each individual PAE in topsoil was lower than the suggested cleanup objectives. The levels of 6 PAEs, DEHP, and DnBP in vegetables were below the reference doses. The yields of eggplant, cauliflower, bean, cabbage, cucumber, and carrot were 64.4–67.0 t/ha, 10.9–13.0 t/ha, 12.3–15.1 t/ha, 17.3–17.5 t/ha, 43.9–44.5 t/ha, and 19.0–22.9 t/ha, respectively, and no significant differences were found among these different treatments for each kind of vegetable. The bioaccumulation factors (BCFs) of 6 PAEs in vegetable samples were 0.43–5.79 and the corresponding values for each PAE were 0.00–27.32, respectively. The BCFs of butyl benzyl phthalate were the greatest (with a mean of 9.28), followed by DEHP (with a mean of 3.03) and DMP (with a mean of 1.90). In one word, the reclaimed water in this study did not affect the vegetable yields obviously. PAE levels in soil and vegetables irrigated with reclaimed water were in the acceptable range. Considering the difference of reclaimed water quality of Sewage Treatment Plants in different areas, so more reclaimed water from different areas is needed to assess the impacts of reclaimed water irrigation on PAE contamination in soil and vegetables.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Balafas D, Shaw KJ, Whitfield FB (1999) Phthalate and adipate esters in Australian packaging materials. Food Chem 65:279–287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Batabyal K, Mandal B, Sarkar D, Murmu S, Tamang A, Das I, Hazra GC, Chattopadhyay PS (2016) Comprehensive assessment of nutrient management technologies for cauliflower production under subtropical conditions. Eur J Agron 79:1–13

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bell FP (1982) Effects of phthalate esters on lipid metabolism in various tissues, cells and organelles in mammals. Environ Health Perspect 45:41–50

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cartwright CD, Thompson IP, Burns RG (2000) Degradation and impact of phthalate plasticizers on soil microbial communities. Environ Toxicol Chem 19:1253–1261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen M, Ren R, Wang ZJ, Lin XT, Liu LL, Wu SH, Zhang SF, Chen S (2007) Investigation on status of environmental hormone pollution in the industrial wastewater and urban sewage in Beijing. Res Environ Sci 20(6):1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen ML, Chen JS, Tang CL, Mao IF (2008) The internal exposure of Taiwanese to phthalate–an evidence of intensive use of plastic materials. EnvironInt 34:79–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng XM, Ma LL, Xu DD, Cheng HX, Yang GS, Luo M (2015) Mapping of phthalate esters in suburban surface and deep soils around a metropolis-Beijing, China. J Geochem Explor 155:56–61

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clara M, Windhofer G, Hartl W, Braun K, Simon M, Gans O, Scheffknecht C, Chovanec A (2010) Occurrence of phthalates in surface runoff, untreated and treated wastewater and fate during wastewater treatment. Chemosphere 78:1078–1084

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Çolak YB,Yazar A,Gonen E,Eroglu EÇ (2018) Yield and quality response of surface and subsurface drip-irrigated eggplant and comparison of net returns. Agr Water Manage206:165–175

  • CPPIA(China Plastics Processing Industry Association) (2016) China Plastics Industry Year-book. Chemical Industry Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Daňková R, Jarošová A, Poláková Š (2013) Monitoring of phthalates in Moravian agricultural soil in 2011 and 2012. Mendelnet:563–567

  • Domínguez-Morueco N, González-Alonso S, Valcárcel Y (2014) Phthalate occurrence in rivers and tap water from central Spain. Sci Total Environ 500-501:139–146

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • EFSA(European Food Safety Authority) (2005a) Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate(DEHP) for use in food contact materials. EFSA J 243:1–20

    Google Scholar 

  • EFSA(European Food Safety Authority) (2005b) Di-butylphthalate(DBP) for use in food contact materials. EFSA J 242:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu XW, Du QZ (2011) Uptake of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate of vegetables from plastic film greenhouses. J Agric Food Chem 59:11585–11588

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gao ML, Qi Y, Song WH, Xu HR (2016) Effects of di-n-butyl phthalate and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate on the growth, photosynthesis, and chlorophyll fluorescence of wheat seedlings. Chemosphere 151:76–83

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garcial JM, Robertson ML (2017) The future of plastics recycling chemical advances are increasing the proportion of polymer waste that can be recycled. Science 358(6365):870–872

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GB 20922–2007. The reuse of urban recycling water quality of farmland irrigation water[S]. Beijing: Standards Press of China, 2007

  • GB5084–2005. Standards for irrigation water quality[S]. Beijing: Standards Press of China, 2005

  • Guo DM, Wu Y (2011) Determination of phthalic acid esters of soil in south of Xinjiang cotton fields. Arid Environ Monit 25:76–79 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo Y, Wang L, Kannan K (2014) Phthalates and parabens in personal care products from China: concentrations and human exposure. Arch Environ ContamToxicol 66:113–119

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton AJ, Stagnitti F, Xiong XZ, Kreidl SL, Benke KK, Maher P (2007) Wastewater irrigation: the state of play. Vadose Zone J 6:823–840

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He MJ, Lu JF, Wang J, Wei SQ, Hageman KJ (2020) Phthalate esters in biota, air and water in an agricultural area of western China, with emphasis on bioaccumulation and human exposure. Sci Total Environ 698:134264

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hens GA, Caballos AMP (2003) Social and economic interest in the control of phthalic acid esters. Trends Anal Chem 22:847–857

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hu YQ, Wu WY (2018) Review and development strategy of irrigation with unconventional water resources in China. 20(5): 69–76 (in Chinese with English abstract)

  • Kong XJ, Li D, Cao LQ, Zhang XM, Zhao Y, Lv Y, Zhang J (2008) Evaluation of municipal sewage treatment systems for pollutant removal efficiency by measuring levels of micropollutants. Chemosphere 72:59–66

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kong SF, Ji YQ, Liu LL, Chen L, Zhao XY, Wang JJ, Bai ZP, Sun ZR (2012) Diversities of phthalate esters in suburban agricultural soils and wasteland soil appeared with urbanization in China. Environ Pollut 170:161–168

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kong SF, Ji YQ, Liu LL, Chen L, Zhao XY, Wang JJ, Bai ZP, Sun ZR (2013) Spatial and temporal variation of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in atmospheric PM10 and PM2.5 and the influence of ambient temperature in Tianjin, China. Atmos Environ 74:199–208

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li C, Chen JY, Wang JH, Han P, Luan YX, Ma XP, Lu AX (2016a) Phthalate esters in soil, plastic film, and vegetable from greenhouse vegetable production bases in Beijing, China: concentrations, sources, and risk assessment. Sci Total Environ 568:1037–1043

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li KK, Ma D, Wu J, Chai C, Shi YX (2016b) Distribution of phthalate esters in agricultural soil with plastic film mulching in Shandong Peninsula, East China. Chemosphere 164:314–321

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Huang GH, Gu H, Huang QZ, Lou CH, Zhang L, Liu HL (2018) Assessing the risk of phthalate ester (PAE) contamination in soils and crops irrigated with treated sewage effluent. Water 10(8):999 2073–4441

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu XW, Shi JH, Bo T, Zhang H, Wu W, Chen QC, Zhan XM (2014) Occurrence of phthalic acid esters in source waters: a nationwide survey in China during the period of 2009-2012. Environ Pollut 184:262–270

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lü HX, Mo CH, Zhao HM, Xiang L, Katsoyiannis A, Li YW, Cai QY, Wong MH (2018) Soil contamination and sources of phthalates and its health risk in China: a review. Environ Res 164:417–429

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ma TT, Wu LH, Chen L, Zhang HB, Teng Y, Luo YM (2015) Phthalate esters contamination in soils and vegetables of plastic film greenhouses of suburb Nanjing, China and the potential human health risk. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:12018–12028

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mckee RH, Butala JH, David RM, Gans G (2004) NTP center for the evaluation of risks to human reproduction reports on phthalates: addressing the data gaps. Reprod Toxicol 18:1–22

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mo CH, Cai QY, Tang SR, Zeng QY, Wu QT (2009) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and phthalic acid esters in vegetables from nine farms of the Pearl River Delta, South China. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 56:181–189

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Net S, Sempéré R, Delmont A, Paluselli A, Ouddane B (2015) Occurrence, fate and behavior and ecotoxicological state of phthalates in different environmental matrices. Environ Sci Technol 49(7):4019–4035

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. SVOCs determination of soil cleanup objectives and cleanup levels. Appendix A of TAGM# 4046[OL]. Available online: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dertagm s/prtg4046.html (accessed on 4 Apr 2003)

  • New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. CP-51/soil cleanup guidance. 2010. Available online: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/remediation_hudson_pdf/cpsoil.pdf (accessed on 6 June 2016)

  • Niu LL, Xu Y, Xu C, Yun LX, Liu WP (2014) Status of phthalate esters contamination in agricultural soils across China and associated health risks. Environ Pollut 195:16–23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seyoum A, Pradhan A (2019) Effect of phthalates on development, reproduction, fat metabolism and lifespan in Daphnia magna. Sci Total Environ 654:969–977

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh S, Li SS (2012) Epigenetic effects of environmental chemicals bisphenola and phthalates. Int J Mol Sci 13:10143–10153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh PK, Deshbhratar PB, Ramteke DS (2012) Effects of sewage wastewater irrigation on soil properties, crop yield and environment. Agric Water Manag 103:100–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Škrbić BD, Ji YQ, Mladenović DN, Zhao J (2016) Occurrence of the phthalate esters in soil and street dust samples from the Novi Sad city area, Serbia, and the influence on the children’s and adults’ exposure. J Hazard Mater 312:272–279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Staples CA, Peterson DR, Parkerton TF, Adams WJ (1997) The environmental fate of phthalate esters: a literature review. Chemosphere 35:667–749

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun JT, Pan LL, Tsang DCW, Li ZH, Zhu LZ, Li XD (2016a) Phthalate esters and organochlorine pesticides in agricultural soils and vegetables from fast-growing regions: a case study from eastern China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:34–42

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun JT, Pan LL, Zhan Y, Lu HN, Tsang DCW, Liu WX, Wang XL, Li XD, Zhu LZ (2016b) Contamination of phthalate esters, organochlorine pesticides and polybrominateddiphenyl ethers in agricultural soils from the Yangtze River Delta of China. Sci Total Environ 544:670–676

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tan WB, Zhang Y, He XS, Xi BD, Gao RT, Mao XH, Huang CH, Zhang H, Li D, Liang Q, Cui DY, Alshawabkeh AN (2016) Distribution patterns of phthalic acid esters in soil particle size fractions determine biouptake in soil-cereal crop systems. Sci Rep 6:31987

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tran BC, Teil MJ, Blanchard M, Alliot F, Chevreuil M (2015) Fate of phthalates and BPA in agricultural and non-agricultural soils of the Paris area (France). Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:11118–11126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • United States Environmental Protection Agency(USEPA),2013. Electronic code of Federal Regulations, Title-40-Protection of Environment, Part 423-Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Categor, Appendix a to Part 423–126. Priority Pollutants. http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?cJecfr&SIDJb960051a53c9015d817718d71f1617b&rgnJdiv5&viewJtext&nodeJ4030.0.1.1.23&idnoj40#40:30.0.1.1.23.0.5.9.9 (accessed on 4 Oct 2019)

  • Wang J, Luo YM, Teng Y, Ma WT, Christie P, Li ZG (2013) Soil contamination by phthalate esters in Chinese intensive vegetable production systems with different modes of use of plastic film. Environ Pollut 180:265–273

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J, Chen GC, Christie P, Zhang MY, Luo YM, Teng Y (2015) Occurrence and risk assessment of phthalate esters(PAEs) in vegetables and soils of suburban plastic film greenhouses. Sci Total Environ 523:129–137

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Liang H, Gao DW (2017) Occurrence and risk assessment of phthalate esters (PAEs) in agricultural soils of the SanjiangPlain, northeast China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:19723–19732

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xia XH, Yang LY, Bu QW, Liu RM (2011) Levels, distribution, and health risk of phthalate esters in urban soils of Beijing, China. J Environ Qual 40:1643–1651

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu G, Li FS, Wang QH (2008) Occurrence and degradation characteristics of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in typical agricultural soils of China. Sci Total Environ 393:333–340

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng F, Cui KY, Xie ZY, Wu LN, Liu M, Sun GQ, Lin YJ, Luo DL, Zeng ZX (2008) Phthalate esters(PAEs): emerging organic contaminants in agricultural soils in peri-urban areas around Guangzhou, China. Environ Pollut 156:425–434

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zeng F, Cui KY, Xie ZY, Wu LN, Luo DL, Chen LX, Lin YJ, Liu M, Sun GX (2009) Distribution of phthalate esters in urban soils of subtropical city, Guangzhou, China. J Hazard Mater 164:1171–1178

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang D, Liu H, Liang Y, Wang C, Liang HC, Cai HS (2009) Distribution of phthalate esters in the groundwater of Jianghan plain, Hubei, China. Front Earth Sci China 3(1):73–79

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang HX, Chi DC, Wang Q, Fang J, Fang XY (2011) Yield and quality response of cucumber to irrigation and nitrogen fertilization under subsurface drip irrigation in solar greenhouse. Agric Sci China 10(6):921–930

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang LF, Dong L, Ren LJ, Shi SX, Zhou L, Zhang T, Huang YR (2012) Concentration and source identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and phthalic acid esters in the surface water of the Yangtze River Delta, China. J Environ Sci 24(2):335–342

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Wang PJ, Wang L, Sun GQ, Zhao JY, Zhang H, Du N (2015a) The influence of facility agriculture production on phthalate esters distribution in black soils of northeast China. Sci Total Environ 506–507:118–125

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Liang Q, Gao RT, Hou HB, Tan WB, He XS, Zhang H, Yu MD, Ma LN, Xi BD, Wang XW (2015b) Contamination of phthalate esters (PAEs) in typical wastewater-irrigated agricultural soils in Hebei, North China. PLoS One 10(9)

  • Zhao HM, Du H, Xiang L, Chen YL, Lu LA, Li YW, Li H, Cai QY, Mo CH (2015) Variations in phthalate ester (PAE) accumulation and their formation mechanism in Chinese flowering cabbage (Brassica parachinensis L.). Environ Pollut 206:95–103

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the staff of the Beijing Irrigation Test Center Station for their support during the experiments.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0403105).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Hydraulic Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Yan Li

  2. Beijing Water Science and Technology Institute, Beijing, 100048, China

    Yan Li, Lei Zhang, Hua Gu, Chunhua Lou, Hang Zhang & Honglu Liu

  3. College of Water Conservancy & Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Guanhua Huang

  4. Beijing Engineering Technique Research Center for Exploration and Utilization of Non-Conventional Water Resources and Water Use Efficiency, Beijing, 100048, China

    Lei Zhang, Hua Gu, Chunhua Lou, Hang Zhang & Honglu Liu

Authors
  1. Yan Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Guanhua Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lei Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hua Gu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Chunhua Lou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hang Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Honglu Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Honglu Liu and Hua Gu conceived and designed the experiments; Chunhua Lou and Lei Zhang performed the experiments; and Yan Li, Guanhua Huang, and Hang Zhang analyzed the data and wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Honglu Liu.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Ester Heath

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Research highlights

• The concentrations of PAEs in topsoil and vegetables in solar greenhouses under irrigation with different water quality (reclaimed water, groundwater, and alternative irrigation with reclaimed water and groundwater) were studied.

• Bioaccumulation factors (BCFs) of PAEs were determined from PAE concentrations of vegetables and soil.

• Each individual PAE in soil samples and the concentrations of PAEs, Di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP,) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in vegetable samples were lower than the reference values, indicating lower health risk.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, Y., Huang, G., Zhang, L. et al. Phthalate esters (PAEs) in soil and vegetables in solar greenhouses irrigated with reclaimed water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 22658–22669 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08882-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08882-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation