Exposure and risk assessment of volatile organic compounds and airborne phthalates in Singapore's Child Care Centers

Abstract Infants and children under 6 years old spend most of daily time in Child Care Centers (CCCs), especially in the tropical regions like Singapore. Environmental exposure and associated risk during this early critical developmental stage is of great public concern. In this study, seven representative volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and five typical phthalates were analyzed in the indoor and outdoor air samples collected from 32 Singapore CCCs. The median of total VOC and phthalate concentration in indoor air was 19.03 and 5.41 μg m −3 ; respectively. For both indoors and outdoors environment, benzene, toluene and xylene were the dominant VOC contributors (more than 68%). For indoor air phthalates, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and di-butyl phthalate (DBP) accounts for 60–76%. The level of both VOCs and phthalates in indoor environment was significantly higher than that in outdoor, with an average indoor/outdoor ratio of 1.24 and 1.45; respectively. A strong correlation ( r  > 0.50, p