Benzophenones, bisphenols and other polychlorinated/phenolic substances in Danish infants and their parents – including longitudinal assessments before and after introduction to mixed diet

Abstract

BackgroundHumans are widely exposed to chemicals with known or suspected endocrine disrupting effects. Among those are several benzophenones, bisphenols and other phenols commonly used in consumer products. ObjectivesTo provide human biomonitoring data from young families including infants and their parents as well as longitudinal data of infants exclusively breastfed versus on mixed diet. MethodTwenty-two benzophenones, bisphenols and other phenols, were measured in urine sample sets collected from more than 100 infants and their parents (the TRIO study) and in paired samples from 61 infants when exclusively breastfed and after introduction of mixed diet (the FOOD study). ResultsTwelve out of 22 substances were detectable in more than half of the urine samples from infants, mothers or fathers. Large variation in excreted levels of almost all the substances were observed. The TRIO study showed that infants had comparable or even significantly higher daily urinary excretion (DUE) of benzophenone, 4-hydroxy-benzophenone, bisphenol A, bisphenol S, triclosan and 2-phenylphenol than their parents. In the FOOD study, exclusively breastfed infants had higher or similar DUE of triclosan and benzophenones compared to when they received mixed diet. Urinary levels of triclosan and the benzophenones, BP-1 and BP-3 were significantly correlated between all trio members, indicating exposure from the same sources at home. For triclosan, BP-1 and BP-3, the within family variation was lower than between families in the TRIO study. Many substances were positively correlated both within infants and parents, indicating that some families were exposed to several of these substances concurrently. ConclusionParticipants in this study excreted relatively low chemical levels, however, simultaneous exposure to several chemicals with endocrine disrupting abilities is of concern due to the dose-additive effects of these substances in combination with other chemicals.