Association between urinary 3-phenoxybenzoic acid and body mass index in Korean adults: 1st Korean National Environmental Health Survey

Abstract

BackgroundAccording to US-EPA report, the use of pyrethrins and pyrethroids has increased during the past decade, and their area of use included not only in agricultural settings, but in commerce, and individual household. It is known that urinary 3-PBA, major metabolite of pyrethroid, have some associations with health effect in nervous and endocrine system, however, there’s no known evidence that urinary 3-PBA have associations with obesity.MethodWe used data of 3671 participants aged above 19 from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey in 2009–2011. In our analysis, multivariate piece-wise regression and logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the association between urinary 3-PBA (3-Phenoxybenzoic Acid) and BMI.ResultLog-transformed level of urinary 3-PBA had significantly positive association with BMI at the low-level range of exposure (p < 0.0001), and opposite associations were observed at the high level exposure (p = 0.04) after adjusting covariates. In piece-wise regression analysis, the flexion point that changes direction of the associations was at around 4 ug/g creatinine of urinary 3-PBA. As quintiles based on concentration of urinary 3-PBA increased to Q4, the ORs for prevalence of overweight (BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2) were increased, and the OR of Q5 was lower than that of Q4 (OR = 1.810 for Q4; OR = 1.483 for Q5). In the analysis using obesity (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) as outcome variable, significant associations were observed between obesity and quintiles of 3-PBA, however, there were no differences between the OR of Q5 and that of Q4 (OR = 1.659 for Q4; OR = 1.666 for Q5).ConclusionOur analysis suggested that low-level of pyrethroid exposure has positive association with BMI, however, there is an inverse relationship above the urinary 3-PBA level at 4 ug/g creatinine.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40557-015-0079-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

β‐Cypermethrin Alleviated the Inhibitory Effect of Medium from RAW 264.7 Cells on 3T3‐L1 Cell Maturation into Adipocytes

“…In South Korea, children who possess higher levels of urinary pyrethroid metabolites have higher body mass index (BMI) Z‐scores than children not exposed to these metabolites (Lee et al, ). A similar positive relationship between BMI and the level of 3‐phenoxybenzoic acid, a major pyrethroid metabolite, has also been found in adults according to the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (Yoo et al, ). In addition, pyrethroid exposure and diabetes in the United States are strongly positively correlated according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Park et al, ).…”

Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and anthropometric measures of obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Too few studies examined PAHs, 34 35 parabens 71 77 and pyrethroids. 78 The association between exposure to some EDCs and obesity raises the question about the potential action of these chemicals as risk factors for obesity-related complications, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Because EDCs are lipophilic, they are stored in adipose tissue.…”

“…Deierlein et al 36 found no association between exposure to parabens and prospective changes in adiposity measures among girls. The only study investigating benzoic acid 78 (online supplementary table 2) described that in adults low urinary 3-PBA levels were positively associated with obesity, whereas high levels were negatively associated. 78 One study investigated exposure to perfluorinated alkylated substances and reported no association with obesity measures in children 62 (online supplementary table 2).…”

Predictors of Urinary Pyrethroid and Organophosphate Compound Concentrations among Healthy Pregnant Women in New York

“…In Italy, the mean concentration of 3-PBA—a metabolite of permethrin—was slightly higher among older adults with higher BMI [ 44 ]. A possible mechanism for this association is the hypothesized obesogenic properties of 3-PBA at lower levels due to lipophilic properties of parent pyrethroid compounds [ 74 ].…”