Pilot Study of Urinary Biomarkers of Phytoestrogens,Phthalates,and Phenols in Girls

摘要

BACKGROUND: Hormonally active environmental agents have been measured among U.S.children using exposure biomarkers in urine.However,little is known about their variation by race,age,sex,and geography,and no data exist for newly developed biomarkers.OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to characterize relevant,prevalent exposures for a study of female pubertal development.METHODS: In a pilot study among 90 girls from New York City,New York,Cincinnati,Ohio,and northern California,we measured 25 urinary analytes representing 22 separate agents from three chemical families: phytoestrogens,phthalates,and phenols.Exposures occur chiefly from the diet and from household or personal care products.RESULTS: Participants represented four racial/ethnic groups (Asian,black,Hispanic,white),with mean age of 7.77 years.Most analytes were detectable in > 94% of samples.The highest median concentrations for individual analytes in each family were for enterolactone (298 mu g/L),monoethylphthalate (MEP;83.2 mu g/L),and benzophenone-3 (BP3;14.7 mu g/L).Few or no data have been reported previously for four metabolites: mono(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate,tri-closan,bisphenol A (BPA),and BP3;these were detected in 67-100% of samples with medians of 1.8-53.2 mu g/L.After multivariate adjustment,two analytes,enterolactone and BPA,were higher among girls with body mass index < 85th reference percentile than those at or above the 85th percentile.Three phthalate metabolites differed by race/ethnicity [MEP,mono(2-ethylhexyl) phtha-late,and mono-3-carboxypropylphthalate].CONCLUSIONS: A wide spectrum of hormonally active exposure biomarkers were detectable and variable among young girls,with high maximal concentrations (> 1,000 mu g/L) found for several analytes.They varied by characteristics that may be relevant to development.