Phthalates in celery grown in fields and greenhouses
What it found
Celery leaves held more phthalates than stems, and greenhouse celery held more than open-field celery.
The authors judged the cancer and non-cancer risks from eating this celery to be at an acceptable level.
What they found
Studies in people
Risk from eating celery
Risk assessments for people found that both cancer and non-cancer risks from phthalates taken in through celery were at an acceptable level.
Other findings
Levels in stems and leaves
Total phthalates ranged from 89.0 to 1130.3 μg kg-1 dry weight in stems and 155.0 to 2730.8 μg kg-1 dry weight in leaves.
Greenhouse versus open field
Celery from open fields had lower phthalate levels than celery from plastic greenhouses, and the differences by location were notable.
Temperature in greenhouses
In greenhouse celery, plants grown at high temperatures had higher phthalate concentrations than plants grown at low temperatures.
How phthalates get in
The differences in where phthalates ended up in the plant suggest the contaminants are taken up by more than one route.
What the authors conclude
“Further research should consider other exposure pathways of PAEs and pay special attention to reducing PAE contents in vegetables.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say further research should look at other ways people are exposed to phthalates.
- They advise paying special attention to reducing phthalate levels in vegetables.
How it was done
The authors wanted to look at how phthalates are distributed in the tissues of vegetables, how that varies by place and temperature, and what it might mean for people who eat them.
They grew celery as a model plant and collected samples from open fields and plastic greenhouses in two provinces in China across four seasons. They tested the celery tissues for 16 phthalate compounds using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This study measured phthalates in celery plants and estimated risk from eating them. It did not follow people over time to see whether eating this celery affected their health.
- The risk assessment only looked at celery as a source of phthalates. It cannot show the total exposure from all foods and other sources.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, China; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China
The paper
- Title
- Tissue distribution of phthalates in celery under different cultivation patterns and associated dietary exposure
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Zhao F, Ma Z, Ping H, et al (2022). Tissue distribution of phthalates in celery under different cultivation patterns and associated dietary exposure. Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118391PubMed 34678394DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error