Age and Gender Differences in Urinary Levels of Eleven Phthalate Metabolites in General Taiwanese Population after a DEHP Episode

Po-Chin Huang; Chih-Hsin Tsai; Wei-Yen Liang; Sih-Syuan Li; Wen-Harn Pan; Hung-Che Chiang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133782

Age and Gender Differences in Urinary Levels of Eleven Phthalate Metabolites in General Taiwanese Population after a DEHP Episode

PLoS One. 2015 Jul 24;10(7):e0133782. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133782. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Po-Chin Huang¹, Chih-Hsin Tsai¹, Wei-Yen Liang¹, Sih-Syuan Li¹, Wen-Harn Pan², Hung-Che Chiang³

Affiliations

¹ National Environmental Health Research Center, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.
² Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan; Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Service Research, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.
³ National Environmental Health Research Center, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan; Division of Environmental Health and Occupational Medicine, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.

Abstract

Introduction: In 2011, the Taiwan FDA disclosed illegal di(2-ethylhexyl phthalate) (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) use in beverage and nutrition supplements. We aim to determine phthalate exposure and other relevant factors in a sample of the general Taiwanese population in order to evaluate actual phthalate exposure levels after this disclosure of DEHP use.

Method: We selected subjects aged 7 years old and older in 2013 from the general Taiwanese population. First morning urine samples from each participant were collected to analyze 11 phthalate metabolites representing 7 parent phthalates using on-line liquid chromatography/ tandem mass spectrometry. An interview questionnaire was applied to obtain participant demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and other relevant factors.

Results: The median levels of metabolites of DEHP, including mono-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP), DBP (DnBP and DiBP), including mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP) and mono-iso-butyl phthalate (MiBP), and mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP) in urine samples of 290 adults/ 97 minors (<18 years) were 7.9/ 6.1, 12.6/ 17.8, 22.0/ 25.8, 25.4/ 30.8, 18.1/ 23.6, 9.4/ 13.6 and 14.5/ 12.4 μg/g creatinine, respectively. Women (≧18 years) were exposed to significantly higher levels of MEHHP (P=0.011), MECPP (P=0.01), MnBP (P=0.001) and MEP (P<0.001) than men (≧18 years), whereas no gender difference was observed in minors. We found significant higher level of MEP (creatinine-unadjusted) in subject aged between 18 to 40 years old (P<0.001), especially for women. Exposure levels of MEOHP (P<0.001), MECPP (P=0.002) and MnBP (P=0.044) in minors were significantly higher than those of adults. High frequency usage of food preservation film and bags, and personal care products are potential sources of phthalates exposure in general Taiwanese.

Conclusion: Our findings indicated that DEHP and DBP exposure in a sample of the general Taiwanese population varied by age and gender, possibly affected by different lifestyles, and continuing bio-monitoring surveillance is warranted.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Child
Dibutyl Phthalate / urine
Diethylhexyl Phthalate / urine*
Environmental Exposure / analysis
Environmental Exposure / statistics & numerical data*
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Environmental Pollutants / urine*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Phthalic Acids / metabolism
Phthalic Acids / urine*
Sex Factors
Taiwan / epidemiology
Young Adult

Substances

Environmental Pollutants
Phthalic Acids
Dibutyl Phthalate
phthalic acid
Diethylhexyl Phthalate

Grants and funding

Support was provided by National Health Research Institutes grant, 102-EH-PP05, 103-EH-PP05, 104-EH-PP05 [http://nehrc.nhri.org.tw/toxic/project_research_en.php]. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.