The phthalate esters (PAEs) has been one of the prevalent organic pollutants in agricultural soils due to the extensive use of mulch in agricultural production processes in China. Monobutyl phthalate (MBP), monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) and other phthalate monoesters (MPEs) are important intermediates in the metabolic process of PAEs and co-exist with PAEs in the soil environment. The toxicological studies have shown that these metabolites have equal or even stronger endocrine disrupting effects. Therefore, the co-occurrence of MPEs in soil could eventually increase the human health risk through the food chain. In addition, the accumulation of MPEs caused by the continuous metabolism of PAEs in soil also has potential toxic effects on crops. In this paper, spinach was selected as the test plant, and the effects of DBP and MBP on the growth, photosynthetic indexes, quality and antioxidant system of spinach were investigated by setting up six different concentrations of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and MBP to observe seed germination within two weeks and three different concentrations of MBP to focus on the pot planting experiments to obtain the relevant datasets, and at the same time, the absorption and transport datasets of DBP and MBP in spinach were analyzed in a comparative manner. At the same time, the uptake and transport data of DBP and MBP in spinach were analyzed comparatively, aiming to investigate the toxic effects of MBP on the growth of spinach and provide the corresponding data sets for the cumulative characteristics, so as to provide a reference basis for the comprehensive assessment of the ecological risk of PAEs and their metabolite contamination in soil.