Investigation of <i>in vivo</i> toxicity and biochemical perturbation of plasticizers identified in the Tunisian sweets and the fate in WWTP and adjacent coastal area

ABSTRACT Plasticizers have been excessively used in food packaging and numerous studies show their migration into food and their fate in the environment after the release of plastic packaging into the receiving environment. Our results show the sweets products analyzed using GC-MS/MS indicated the presence of benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), and 1,2-cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester (DINC). Slightly or not metabolized in the body, plasticizers can reach WWTPs and contaminated wastewater. Generally, the usual treatment procedures in WWTPs are not effective in removing these plasticizers, and therefore, they end up in the sea and concentrate in the sediments. This is what our study showed by detecting plasticizers at high concentrations such as DINB which reached 0.93 mg/L in the tested WWTP and 3.8 mg/kg in the sediment of the adjacent marine coast. These analyses generally have negative effects on human health. In fact, we have tested the toxicity of the main detected phthalates such as DINP, DEHP, and DBP. The results showed that the acute administration significantly induced liver and kidney injuries in male mice manifested by a rise in plasma uric acid, alanine aminotransferase, and glucose.