Intervention strategy development on phthalates exposure reduction for girls

Abstract

Background:Children in Taiwan seem exposed higher concentration of phthalates, especially for di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). Aims: This research is aimed to explore intervention strategy which could effective to reduce the phthalate exposure in girls. Methods: 30 girls were recruited from the policlinic of Pediatric Endocrinology in National Cheng Kung University Hospital and local elementary school in 2010. Participants were asked to limit the usage of plastic container, microwave food, nutrition supplements, medication, cosmetics, personal care products, and food with plastic bag or wrap covered. Pre-intervention and post-intervention urine samples were collected during one week intervention. A questionnaire was developed to monitor the intervention compliance.Eight urinary phthalate metabolites including MMP, MEP, MBP, MBzP, MEHP, MEOHP, MEHHP,and MECPP were analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS. Results: The dominant phthalate metabolites in urine samples were MBP, followed by MEHHP and MECPP. The geometric means of eight phthalate metabolites levels in post-intervention urine samples were significantly lower than pre-intervention (p<0.01). The hand-washed frequency is positively associated with the decreasion of urinay MBP levels (geometric mean: 130.1 ng/mL) (p=0.01). We also found limited consumption of beverages with plastic cup could significantly decreased the urinary levels of MBP (p=0.018), MEOHP (p=0.079), MEHHP (p=0.042), and MECPP (p=0.013). To reduce the usage of shampoo and shower gel also contribute to decrease the levels of urinary MBP (p=0.066) and MEP (p=0.072). Conclusions: In this study, we found that the levels of urinary MBP decreased with increasing hand-washed frequency and limiting consumption of beverages with plastic cup in girls. Meanwhile, the concentration of urinary DEHP metabolites decreased with limiting consumption of beverages with plastic cup.