Temporal Trend of Exposures to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Bisphenol A during 2012-2016: A Comparison between China and the United States

摘要

At national scales, changes in human exposures to environmental chemicals are largely driven by government's regulatory actions. Due to the inter-country variations in social, cultural, and economic conditions, the temporal trends of human exposures to chemicals are likely to be different among countries. To test this hypothesis, urine samples (n=350) were collected from four panels of summer exchange students (n=45) between University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA, in Los Angeles, United States) and Peking University (in Beijing, China) in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2016. The urinary metabolites of two groups of environmental pollutants, namely polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and bisphenol A (BPA) were measured. In each year, exposures to PAHs and BPA were both significantly higher in Beijing than in Los Angeles (p<0.05). From 2012 to 2016, PAHs exposures didn't change in Los Angeles, but continuously decreased in Beijing (p<0.01) which was probably due to the drastic reduction in PAHs emissions from residential, commercial, and industrial sources in China. BPA exposures, by contrast, continuously decreased in Los Angeles (p <0.001), but didn't change in Beijing. This is likely due to extensive efforts from government and manufacturers to phase out BPA in the United States and calls for actions to regulate BPA in China. Overall, the observed temporal trends of PAHs and BPA exposures reflect the difference in pollution controlling measures between the two countries.