SEOUL, South Korea—A recent study showed a strong positive association between phthalate metabolites in urine and symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among school-age children (Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Nov 15;66(10):958-63). Researchers preformed a cross-sectional examination of urine phthalate concentrations in 261 Korean children, aged 8 to 11 years. They also scored ADHD symptoms and neuropsychological dysfunction with regard to attention and impulsivity in the children.
They found the mean concentrations of the phthalates Mono-2-ethylheyl phthalate (MEHP) and mono-2-ethyl-5-oxohexylphthalate (MEOP) and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MNBP) were 34.0 μg/dL (SD = 36.3; range: 2.1–386.7), 23.4 μg/dL (SD = 23.0; range: .75–244.8) and 46.7 μg/L (SD = 21.4; range: 13.2–159.3), respectively. After adjustment for covariates, teacher-rated ADHD scores were significantly associated with metabolites of Di-2-ethylhexylphthalate (DEHP) metabolites, but not with metabolites of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) metabolites. They also found significant relationships between the urine concentrations of metabolites for DBP and the number of omission and commission errors in continuous performance tests after adjustment for covariates.
Phthalates are mainly used to increase the flexibility, transparency, durability and longevity of plastics.