Dietary Intervention and DEHP Reduction

Rudel et al. (2011) reported a surprising reduction in metabolites of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in their dietary intervention study, considering that—to the best of the industry’s knowledge—the plasticizer is no longer used in the food packaging products that the authors removed from the subjects’ dietary routine. Although we question the public health significance of a potential reduction of a few micrograms per liter of DEHP metabolites, we initially saw the study as having the potential to improve our understanding of how low-level exposure to DEHP, suggested by the presence of the metabolites, may be occurring. Unfortunately, in reviewing the Rudel et al. analysis more thoroughly, we were disappointed.