Association of phthalate exposure with anthropometric indices and blood pressure in first-grade children

Abstract

We aimed to assess the relationship of urine phthalate metabolite concentrations with anthropometric indices, and blood pressure in first-grade children. We detected 11 phthalate metabolites in urine and estimated anthropometric indices, including skinfold measurements, waist circumference (WC), and body mass index (BMI) in 276 children aged 6-8 years. Multivariate linear regression models were used to assess the associations between urinary phthalate metabolite levels, and anthropometric and blood pressure indices in a gender-specific manner. In boys, a 1-ng/mL increase in monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP) concentration was associated with a 0.027-cm decrease in the skinfold measurement (95% confidence interval [CI], - 0.053 to 0.001), whereas a 1-ng/mL increase in mono-ethyl-phthalate (MEP) concentration was associated with a 0.016-mm Hg decrease in systolic blood pressure (95% CI, - 0.031 to 0.001). MBzP, mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl) phthalate (MECPP), and MEOHP concentrations were also inversely associated with WC. However, in girls, MEP concentrations were positively associated with chest measurements, but were inversely associated with WC. A 1-ng/mL increase in monomethyl phthalate concentrations was associated with a 0.039-cm increase in skinfold measurements (95% CI, 0.002 to 0.076), whereas a 1-ng/mL increase in MECPP concentrations was associated with a 0.050 cm decrease in skinfold measurements (95% CI, - 0.095 to - 0.005). In this exploratory, cross-sectional analysis, we identified various interesting associations between different phthalate metabolite levels and anthropometric indices, which suggest that some of phthalate metabolite should be considered in addition to the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity.

Exposure to Phenols, Phthalates, and Parabens and Development of Metabolic Syndrome Among Mexican Women in Midlife

“…Our findings align with previous cross-sectional research, which demonstrated a similar association between MCOP and diastolic blood pressure among US children and adolescents (35,36). Similarly, we found that MEHHP was associated with increased diastolic blood pressure; these findings align with those among a cohort of Chinese children (37). These findings collectively may suggest that associations between toxicants and blood pressure begin earlier in life and are consistent through adulthood.…”

Life-Time Environmental Chemical Exposure and Obesity: Review of Epidemiological Studies Using Human Biomonitoring Methods

“…However, one study described positive associations between MEP, MBP, and MBP, and obesity indices in girls, with negative associations in boys (93). Exposure levels of school-aged to adolescents to non-DEHP metabolites (MMP, MEP, MBP, MiBP, and MBzP) were mostly positively associated with one or more anthropometric indices in school-aged children or adolescents (89,91,92,94,96,102,(105)(106)(107)(108)(109)(110). In contrast, after sex stratification, inconsistent associations were evident (94,102,107,110).…”

Prenatal phthalate exposure reduction through an integrated intervention strategy

“…The metabolites were analyzed in the School of Laboratory Medicine, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS; Agilent, USA), according to the method for urine phthalates measurement described in Specht et al (Specht et al, 2015). This method was also validated in our previous study (Wu et al, 2018b). The stored urine sample were thawed, and approximatedly 200 μL of each sample was vortexd, sonicated for 5 min, and buffered using ammonium acetate.…”