The contamination of DEHP on the surfaces of PVC sheet and risk of infants

This study conducted laboratory tests and field surveys to understand the plasticizer contamination characteristics on the surface of PVC flooring materials used indoors, and discussed the risk of exposure of plasticizers to infants indoors. A lab experiment was conducted to measure the bleed-out of DEHP on PVC sheet surfaces. As a result of the bleed-out, the amount of DEHP on the specimen surfaces was 432 to 880 [ug/m²]. The present study showed that plasticizers such as DEHP contained in the PVC sheet accumulate a significant amount of DEHP on the surface of the PVC sheet even if a material such as house dust is not present on the surface of the PVC sheet. In addition, this study found that even if the dust accumulated on the PVC floor surface was vacuumed, it was difficult to completely remove the DEHP accumulated on the floor surface. The field surveys showed that the average concentration of DEHP on the floor surface in Korean and Japanese house were 356 and 608 ug/m² respectively. Since infants have behavioral characteristics of crawling, sitting, and lying on the floor, they have more opportunities to directly contact the floor than adults.