DISTRIBUTION OF PHTHALATE ESTERS IN SETTLED DUST ACROSS ACADEMIC INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS

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Civan M.

23th INTERNATIONAL İSTANBUL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH CONGRESS ON LIFE, ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE, AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES, İstanbul, Türkiye, 20 - 22 Kasım 2025, cilt.1, sa.2025, ss.1280-1289, (Tam Metin Bildiri)

Özet

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are widely used plasticizers that readily migrate from consumer products into

surrounding environmental matrices. Among these, indoor dust serves as a significant reservoir due to

its ability to accumulate semi-volatile organic compounds over time. University campuses encompass a

variety of indoor microenvironments, such as offices, classrooms, and laboratories, that differ in their

use of plasticized materials, yet the distribution of PAEs across these settings remains underexplored.

In this study, the concentrations of selected PAEs were measured in settled dust collected from three

different microenvironments within a university campus: offices, classrooms, and laboratories. Target

PAEs were quantified using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Total PAE

concentrations varied among environments, with the highest levels observed in classrooms (54.55 μg/g

and 62.66 μg/g), followed by laboratories (33.32 and 41.68 μg/g) and offices (24.61 μg/g and 27.78

μg/g). The most abundant compounds were di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and benzyl butyl

phtlate (BBP), which together accounted for the majority of the total PAE burden (73%-89%). These

differences are likely influenced by differences in material composition, number of occupants, and

ventilation duration among the microenvironments. The findings provide a reference point for phthalate

levels in university indoor environments and highlight the need for more comprehensive evaluations

that incorporate both dust and gas-phase sampling, as well as ventilation assessments. While the

concentrations measured in this study were substantially lower than those reported in early childhood

settings, the presence of toxic PAEs,suggests that exposure in densely populated academic indoor spaces

should not be overlooked.