TY - JOUR
T1 - Human biomonitoring reference values and characteristics of Phthalate exposure in the general population of Taiwan
T2 - Taiwan Environmental Survey for Toxicants 2013–2016
AU - Liao, Kai Wei
AU - Chang, Wei Hsiang
AU - Chou, Wei Chun
AU - Huang, Han Bin
AU - Waits, Alexander
AU - Chen, Pau Chung
AU - Huang, Po Chin
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank all the participants who participated in this study. We appreciate the assistance of Ms. Wan-Ting Chang in data and specimen collection and sample pretreatment and Mr. Chien-Jen Wang in conducting LC–MS/MS analysis. We would like to thank the research collaboration of the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan team, Prof. Pan Wen-Harn, Mr. Zheng Chen, and others, and for the support in sampling provided by the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan . This work was supported partially by the Research Center for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan and by Kaohsiung Medical University Research Center Grant ( KMU-TC108A01 ) and Taipei Medical University ( TMU108-AE1-B29 ). We also thank the National Health Research Institutes for their financial support (Grant No.: EM-108-PP-12 , EM- 109-PP-11 , EM-110-PP-11 ) and Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No.: MOST 107-2321-B-002-052 , MOST109-2314-B-400-022-MY3 , and MOST 109- 2314-B-038 -140 -MY2 ).
Funding Information:
We thank all the participants who participated in this study. We appreciate the assistance of Ms. Wan-Ting Chang in data and specimen collection and sample pretreatment and Mr. Chien-Jen Wang in conducting LC?MS/MS analysis. We would like to thank the research collaboration of the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan team, Prof. Pan Wen-Harn, Mr. Zheng Chen, and others, and for the support in sampling provided by the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan. This work was supported partially by the Research Center for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan and by Kaohsiung Medical University Research Center Grant (KMU-TC108A01) and Taipei Medical University (TMU108-AE1-B29). We also thank the National Health Research Institutes for their financial support (Grant No.: EM-108-PP-12, EM- 109-PP-11, EM-110-PP-11) and Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant No.: MOST 107-2321-B-002-052, MOST109-2314-B-400-022-MY3, and MOST 109- 2314-B-038 -140 -MY2).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier GmbH
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Since a 2011 incident involving phthalate-tainted food, Taiwanese people have become concerned with food quality, and they are still being exposed to certain levels of phthalates. However, no nationwide human biomonitoring survey had been conducted to gather information on levels or reference values (RVs) of phthalates in the Taiwanese population. We aimed to establish the urinary levels and RVs of phthalate metabolites and identify exposure characteristics among Taiwan's population. We enrolled 1857 participants 7 years of age and older from the Taiwan Environmental Survey for Toxicants (TESTs) conducted during 2013–2016. Levels of 11 phthalate metabolites in each participant's urine samples were determined using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. For all phthalate metabolites except for mono-methyl phthalate (MMP), mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), and mono-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), urinary median levels were significantly higher in the 7-17-year old group than in the ≧18-year-old group. For most phthalate metabolites and in the general population, the geometric mean decreased with increasing age. Median levels of MEP (19.55 μg/L), mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP) (2.11 μg/L), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) (22.82 μg/L), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEOHP) (16.08 μg/L), ΣDibutyl phthalate metabolites (ΣDBPm) (0.17 nmol/mL), Σdi-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites (ΣDEHPm) (0.29 nmol/mL) were higher in participants from central Taiwan than those from other areas. The median level of DBP (ΣDBPm: 0.20 nmol/mL) was significantly higher in participants from harbor areas than those from other urbanization groups. The RV of the 95 percentile (P95) for phthalate metabolites in the 7–17/≧18-year-old groups were 185.95/208.19 μg/L for MMP, 198.46/265.81 μg/L for MEP, 119.85/69.99 μg/L for mono-isononyl phthalate (MiBP), 165.19/204.32 μg/L for Mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), 15.61/11.73 μg/L for MBzP, 62.09/59.23 μg/L for MEHP, 149.70/69.66 μg/L for MEHHP, 112.06/35.07 μg/L for MEOHP, 195.20/93.83 μg/L for mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP), 45.66/27.69 μg/L for mono-(2-carboxymethylhexyl) phthalate (MCMHP), and 9.09/12.13 μg/L for mono-iso-nonyl phthalate (MiNP). We concluded that phthalate exposure of the general population in Taiwan varies by sex, age, region, and urbanization level. Exposure by the 7–17-year-old group to DMP, DBP, and DEHP in Taiwan remains higher than that of youth from other countries. RV of phthalate metabolites in Taiwan were established in the current study.
AB - Since a 2011 incident involving phthalate-tainted food, Taiwanese people have become concerned with food quality, and they are still being exposed to certain levels of phthalates. However, no nationwide human biomonitoring survey had been conducted to gather information on levels or reference values (RVs) of phthalates in the Taiwanese population. We aimed to establish the urinary levels and RVs of phthalate metabolites and identify exposure characteristics among Taiwan's population. We enrolled 1857 participants 7 years of age and older from the Taiwan Environmental Survey for Toxicants (TESTs) conducted during 2013–2016. Levels of 11 phthalate metabolites in each participant's urine samples were determined using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. For all phthalate metabolites except for mono-methyl phthalate (MMP), mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), and mono-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), urinary median levels were significantly higher in the 7-17-year old group than in the ≧18-year-old group. For most phthalate metabolites and in the general population, the geometric mean decreased with increasing age. Median levels of MEP (19.55 μg/L), mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP) (2.11 μg/L), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) (22.82 μg/L), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEOHP) (16.08 μg/L), ΣDibutyl phthalate metabolites (ΣDBPm) (0.17 nmol/mL), Σdi-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites (ΣDEHPm) (0.29 nmol/mL) were higher in participants from central Taiwan than those from other areas. The median level of DBP (ΣDBPm: 0.20 nmol/mL) was significantly higher in participants from harbor areas than those from other urbanization groups. The RV of the 95 percentile (P95) for phthalate metabolites in the 7–17/≧18-year-old groups were 185.95/208.19 μg/L for MMP, 198.46/265.81 μg/L for MEP, 119.85/69.99 μg/L for mono-isononyl phthalate (MiBP), 165.19/204.32 μg/L for Mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), 15.61/11.73 μg/L for MBzP, 62.09/59.23 μg/L for MEHP, 149.70/69.66 μg/L for MEHHP, 112.06/35.07 μg/L for MEOHP, 195.20/93.83 μg/L for mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP), 45.66/27.69 μg/L for mono-(2-carboxymethylhexyl) phthalate (MCMHP), and 9.09/12.13 μg/L for mono-iso-nonyl phthalate (MiNP). We concluded that phthalate exposure of the general population in Taiwan varies by sex, age, region, and urbanization level. Exposure by the 7–17-year-old group to DMP, DBP, and DEHP in Taiwan remains higher than that of youth from other countries. RV of phthalate metabolites in Taiwan were established in the current study.
KW - General population
KW - Human biomonitoring
KW - Phthalate metabolites
KW - Reference values
KW - Taiwan
KW - Urine
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106462789&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85106462789&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113769
DO - 10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113769
M3 - Article
C2 - 34051577
AN - SCOPUS:85106462789
SN - 1438-4639
VL - 235
JO - International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
JF - International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
M1 - 113769
ER -
