Phthalates in plastic sandals

60 sandals were analyzed for content of the phthalates DIBP, DBP, BBP and DEHP. The sandals are distributed on 20 pairs of sandals for adults, 20 pairs of sandals for 2-year-olds and 20 pairs of sandals for 6/7-year-olds.
A content of the phthalates DIBP, DBP and DEHP was detected in several of the analyzed plastic sandals and foam clogs/foam shoes and for all three age groups. More plastic sandals for children contain phthalates in the sole or strap in the order of magnitude of 10-46%. BBP was only detected in a few sandals and in low concentrations.
In the light of the quantitative analysis results, 19 products were selected for migration analyses with artificial sweat. Furthermore, 5 additional tests were carried out to investigate if there is a difference between dynamic or static extraction and if exposure increases when using sun lotion. The highest concentrations were measured during the additional tests where sun lotion had been applied to the product before the migration analysis.  The risk assessment showed that no RCRs were larger than 1, which means that the sandals do not pose a risk, but 4 RCR values were larger than 0.1. For DEHP the increase in migration is very large with a factor 150 under dynamic conditions and use of sun lotion. The RCR values were recalculated at dynamic conditions and use of sun lotion. In this case no RCR values were larger than 1 but 9 out of 22 were larger than 0.1.