Enhanced Levels of a Broad Range of Synthetic Antioxidants in Human Hands after Playing Basketball: Implications for...

Synthetic antioxidants (SAs) are additives used to inhibit the oxidative degradation of materials. Due to their potential toxicity to humans, studies on identifying human exposure pathways of SAs are important. Herein, a broad range of SAs were analyzed in hand wipe samples collected before and after basketball, with 37 SAs detected. Playing basketball significantly increases the concentration of SAs in human hands, with a median concentration of ΣSAs increased from 629 ng/wipe before playing basketball to 1.51 × 10³ ng/wipe after playing basketball (p < 0.05). Tris-(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphate (AO168O) was the predominant chemical, with the median concentration enhanced from 310 to 767 ng/wipe. The estimated daily exposure via the dermal exposure pathway of SAs was assessed to be 19.6 ng/kg bw/day after basketball, indicating minimal risks. Handwashing experiments demonstrated that most SAs can be removed from hands with tap water (removal efficiency: 19.4-34.0%) and liquid soap (removal efficiency: 32.3-81.8%) (p < 0.05), while the removal efficiency of AO168O was low, contributing to its high residual levels in human hands. This is the first study to elucidate the dermal exposure to SAs via playing basketball, further indicating the importance of washing hands to reduce SA exposure.