Diet is an important exposure pathway of
phthalate esters (
PAEs) for humans. A total of 174 food samples covering 11 food groups were collected from Xi'an, a typical valley city in Northwest China, and analyzed to assess the occurrence and exposure risks for
PAEs in the food. Twenty-two
PAEs were detected. The sum of the 22
PAEs (∑22PAEs) varied between 0.0340 and 56.8 µg/g, with a mean of 3.94 µg/g. The major
PAEs were
di-iso-butyl phthalate (DiBP),
di-n-butyl phthalate (
DnBP), bis(2-ethylhexyl)
phthalate (
DEHP), di-iso-nonyl
phthalate (DiNP), and di-iso-decyl
phthalate (DiDP), which were associated mainly with the usage of
plasticizers. Bio-availability of the
PAEs in the combined gastro-intestinal fluid simulant of digestion was higher than that in the single gastric or intestinal fluid simulant. Bis(2-methoxyethyl)
phthalate exhibited the highest bio-availability in each of the three simulants. Bio-availability of the
PAEs was negatively correlated with the molecular weight and octanol-water partition coefficient of the
PAEs and positively correlated with the solubility and vapor pressure of the
PAEs. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of
PAEs based on national and municipal food consumption data was lower than the reference dose (RfD) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the tolerable dairy intake (TDI) of European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), except for the EDI of
DnBP and DiBP being higher than the TDI of EFSA. Grains and vegetables were the major sources of human dietary exposure to
PAEs. The hazardous quotient for human dietary exposure to
PAEs was less than the critical value of 1 and the
cancer risk of
butyl benzyl phthalate and
DEHP was in the range of 10-11-10-6, suggesting relatively low health risks. The results indicated that human exposure to
DnBP, DiBP,
DEHP, DiNP, and DiDP in food is considerable and a health concern.