Elevated concentrations of urinary triclocarban, phenol and paraben among pregnant women in Northern Puerto Rico: Predictors and trends

Abstract

Background: Understanding important sources and pathways of exposure to common chemicals known or suspected to impact human health is critical to eliminate or reduce the exposure. This is particularly important in areas such as Puerto Rico, where residents have higher exposures to numerous chemicals, as well as higher rates of many adverse health outcomes, compared to the mainland US. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess distributions, time trends, and predictors of urinary triclocarban, phenol, and paraben biomarkers measured at multiple times during pregnancy among women living in Northern Puerto Rico. Methods: We recruited 1003 pregnant women between years 2010 and 2016 from prenatal clinics and collected urine samples and questionnaire data on personal care product use at up to three separate visits, between 16 to 28 weeks gestation. Urine samples were analyzed for triclocarban, seven phenols and four parabens: 2,4-dichlorophenol, 2,5-dichlorophenol, benzophenone-3, bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol F, triclosan, butylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben, and propylparaben. Results: Detectable phenol and paraben concentrations among pregnant women were prevalent and tended to be higher than levels measured in women of reproductive age from the general US population, especially triclocarban, which had a median concentration 30 times higher in Puerto Rico participants. A decreasing temporal trend was statistically significant for urine concentrations of BPA during the study period, while the BPA substitute BPS showed an increasing temporal trend. Significant and suggestively positive associations were found between biomarker concentrations with the products use in the past 48-h (soap, sunscreen, lotion, cosmetics). There was an increasing trend of triclocarban/triclosan concentrations with increased concentrations of triclocarban/triclosan listed as the active ingredient in the bar soap/liquid soap products reported being used. Conclusion: Our results suggest several potentially important exposure sources to triclocarban, phenols, and parabens in this population and can inform targeted approaches to reduce exposure.

Prenatal exposure to consumer product chemical mixtures and size for gestational age at delivery

“…In addition, MPB and PPB were highly correlated (r = 0.84), likely re ecting similar usage in consumer products. In line with previous studies using repeated measures of these biomarkers, there was poor-to-fair stability for all analytes measured (0.25 ≤ ICC ≤ 0.74; Additional File 1: Supplemental Table 4) (10,11,48). Abbreviations: IQR = interquartile range; aOR = adjusted odds ratio 1 Models adjusted for age (years), pre-pregnancy BMI (kg/m 2 ), maternal race (white/Black/other), maternal education (high school or less/some college or technical school/completed college or greater), and fetal sex (female/male).…”

“…First, we were able to assess prenatal exposure to consumer product chemicals using measurements from up to three study visits during pregnancy. As this study and others have demonstrated, the stability of consumer product chemical concentrations in urine is often low given their short half-lives (10,11,48). Yet, many studies continue to rely on a single spot urine sample to assess prenatal exposure to these chemicals (1), and therefore, may be more susceptible to bias due to exposure misclassi cation (73).…”

“…Such chemicals include organophosphate esters (OPE), which may be used in consumer products as either ame retardants or plasticizers, as well as phthalates and phenols. These chemicals, or their metabolites, are commonly detected in the urine of pregnant women (9)(10)(11). Moreover, these chemicals are suspected to impact processes critical to the regulation of fetal growth, possibly through endocrine disruption or impacts on maternal oxidative stress and in ammation (1).…”

Preliminary assessment of exposure to persistent organic pollutants among pregnant women in Puerto Rico

“…Biomarkers of exposure for several contaminants have been found to be elevated among pregnant women in this cohort, including several phthalates (Cantonwine et al 2014), phenols (Meeker et al 2013), certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Cathey et al 2018), and certain metals, compared to female participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) aged 18-40. Notably, we recently reported that the antibacterial compounds triclosan and triclocarban were significantly higher in PROTECT women compared to NHANES (Ashrap et al 2018). However, exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), specifically polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), has not previously been evaluated within the PROTECT cohort.…”

“…Because of these properties, PFASs have been used in numerous consumer products, including stain repellants, textiles, cookware, food packaging, cleaning products, and fire-fighting foams (UEPA (EPA) 2018). Exposure to longer chain PFASs, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), has been associated with increased risk of cancer, low birth weight, and immune and endocrine system disruption (Bach et al 2015;DeWitt et al 2018;Grandjean et al 2017;Rappazzo et al 2017;Steenland et al 2010). Although longer chain PFASs have been phased out of use in the US, use of shorter chain replacement PFASs has increased despite limited information on their toxicity (Birnbaum and Grandjean 2015;Brendel et al 2018).…”