Co-exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and phthalates and their associations with oxidative stress damage in school children from South China

[Display omitted] •Mean urinary levels of mPAEs were higher than that of OH-PAHs (310 vs. 4.57 ng/mL).•Urinary OH-PAHs and mPAEs did not correlated with gender and ages.•Urinary concentrations of OH-PAHs and mPAEs have significant geographical difference.•OH-PAHs could result over 65 times higher risks of DNA damage than mPAEs.•Children in Shenzhen were subjected to non-carcinogenic risks from PAEs but not PAHs. Monohydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs), phthalate metabolites (mPAEs), and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in the urine of school children aged 8–11 years from Shenzhen, China were measured in order to investigate oxidative stress damage from co-exposure to PAHs and PAEs. The concentrations of OH-PAHs and mPAEs in urine were 0.36–36.5 (median: 3.86) and 9.48–1609 (median: 240) ng/mL respectively. Gender and age did not influence urinary concentrations of ΣOH-PAHs and ΣmPAEs, but geographical variations (i.e., urban versus suburban) were observed. Levels of 8-OHdG were positively correlated with urinary OH-PAHs and mPAEs, with correlation coefficients (r) varying between 0.160 and 0.365 (p