Abstract
Exposure to emerging contaminants, such as phthalates, bisphenols and parabens in children has been associated with possible neurodevelopment and endocrine alterations. In the present study, the biomonitoring of biomarkers in children (5–12 years old) from the Valencia Region (Spain) have been implemented using urines from the BIOVAL program. More than 75% of the children studied (n = 562) were internally exposed (>LOQ) to bisphenols and parabens, and the whole population assessed (n = 557) were exposed to at least one phthalate. The geometric means (GM) of the concentrations of bisphenol A, methyl paraben and propyl paraben were 0.9, 1.4 and 0.39 ng/mL, respectively. Regarding phthalates, monoethyl phthalate GM was 55.0 ng/mL and diethyl hexyl phthalate (as the sum of five metabolites) GM was 60.6 ng/mL. Despite the studied population being widely exposed, the detection frequencies and concentrations were in general lower than in previous studies involving children in Spain and in other countries in recent years. Furthermore, the risk assessment study concluded that the internal exposure to phthalates, bisphenols and parabens is lower than the guidance values established, and, therefore, a health risk derived from the exposure to these compounds in the studied population is not expected.
Highlights
IntroductionThe exposure to chemicals which interact with the organism is a public health issue, since it can cause alterations in the neurodevelopment or in the endocrine system [1].During the last decades, there has been an increase in the number of studies which assess the health alterations derived from the exposure to emerging contaminants, such as bisphenols, phthalates and parabens.Bisphenols are mainly used in food contact materials composed of polycarbonate plastics, in epoxy resins used in the internal coating of cans and in thermal papers [2].Regarding children, the presence of bisphenols in toys can be a source of exposure [3].The most widely used and produced bisphenol is the bisphenol A (BPA), recent restrictions in its use have motivated the increase of production of BPA analogues, such as bisphenols F (BPF) and S (BPS) [4]
75% of children had detectable levels of at least one bisphenol, with bisphenol A (BPA) being the most widely detected (DF 63%), and BPS levels were detected in almost 30% of the samples while bisphenols F (BPF) presented a DF of 11%
The rest of phthalate metabolites were only detected in a few samples (DF < 5%)
Summary
The exposure to chemicals which interact with the organism is a public health issue, since it can cause alterations in the neurodevelopment or in the endocrine system [1].During the last decades, there has been an increase in the number of studies which assess the health alterations derived from the exposure to emerging contaminants, such as bisphenols, phthalates and parabens.Bisphenols are mainly used in food contact materials composed of polycarbonate plastics, in epoxy resins used in the internal coating of cans and in thermal papers [2].Regarding children, the presence of bisphenols in toys can be a source of exposure [3].The most widely used and produced bisphenol is the bisphenol A (BPA), recent restrictions in its use have motivated the increase of production of BPA analogues, such as bisphenols F (BPF) and S (BPS) [4]. The exposure to chemicals which interact with the organism is a public health issue, since it can cause alterations in the neurodevelopment or in the endocrine system [1]. There has been an increase in the number of studies which assess the health alterations derived from the exposure to emerging contaminants, such as bisphenols, phthalates and parabens. Bisphenols are mainly used in food contact materials composed of polycarbonate plastics, in epoxy resins used in the internal coating of cans and in thermal papers [2]. The presence of bisphenols in toys can be a source of exposure [3]. The exposure to bisphenols has been associated with possible alterations in the endocrine system [5].
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