Urinary bisphenol A in children, mothers and fathers from Slovenia: Overall results and determinants of exposure

Abstract

In the present study, urinary bisphenol A (BPA) levels were reported for the first time in the Slovenian general population and were evaluated with regard to dietary and non-dietary exposure sources, and compared according to age, gender and area of residence. First morning urine was collected from children (6-11 years), their mothers (30-52 years) and fathers (30-53 years), living in urban and rural areas of Slovenia. Besides basic questionnaire data on general population characteristics, socio-economic status and dietary habits, BPA-specific data was also collected, including consumption of food and beverages from plastic and canned containers, presence of white dental fillings, the use of specific consumer products and hormonal treatments. Urine samples were analysed for both free and conjugated BPA using GC-MS/MS. The urinary levels of total BPA in children, mothers and fathers were low, with geometric means of 1.51, 0.79, and 0.20 μg/g creatinine, respectively. The levels were comparable with the levels reported for other European countries and were all below the current health-based guidance values. In line with large-scale surveys, the data revealed age-dependant BPA urinary levels, with the highest levels in the youngest age group. In mothers, urinary levels of BPA were determined by hormonal interactions more than dietary sources, while a positive association between urinary BPA and diet was apparent in children (canned food/drink and food from plastic material) and fathers (canned food/drink). The study clearly shows that physiological and behavioural differences account for differences in levels of urinary BPA among study groups, a finding that sets the priorities for future research.

Concentration and Variability of Urinary Phthalate Metabolites, Bisphenol A, Triclosan, and Parabens in Korean Mother–Infant Pairs

“…This suggests that even when exposed to the same dose of toxic chemicals, children are more harmed than adults, and therefore TDI research and stricter regulation for children, infants, and neonates are needed [6,12]. In this study, the concentrations of MEP, MnBP, MiBP, and BPA in mothers were significantly correlated with those in infants, similar to those reported previously [8,11,[15][16][17]20]. However, Tratnik et al reported that the urine concentrations of BPA in mother-child pairs were significantly correlated, whereas those between fathers and their children were not correlated [23].…”

“…Specifically, the median concentrations of MEP, MiBP, MBzP, MiNP, TCS, MP, and PP were 3.68, 5.68, 0.63, 0.53, 0.24, 4.85, and 0.51 µg/L, respectively, which were lower than the values reported from Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan [9,10,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. The median concentrations of BPA, MnBP, MEHP, and secondary metabolites of phthalate (MEOHP, MEHHP, MECPP, and MCOP) were slightly lower or higher than the values reported from Greece, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan [8][9][10][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. These patterns were similar to the concentrations of these toxic chemicals in infants.…”

“…For example, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (FDA) of Korea permits the use of EP as a preservative of food and cosmetic, despite the prohibition on the usage of parabens as a preservative in other countries [50,51]. In this study, the median concentrations of BPA and TCS in infants were also higher than the values reported in previous studies [8,10,11,13,15,18,20]. This can also be attributed to relaxed regulatory policies on toxic chemicals in Korea.…”

“…For example, the ICCs of BPA and EP in infants were higher than those in the mothers, whereas the ICCs of TCS in infants was lower than that in the mothers. As the metabolism and elimination of chemicals vary depending on the exposure dose, species, and age, more research on the variability in urine from infants is required [8,11].…”

“…The majority of mothers lived in non-metropolitan areas (57.8%); a total of 93.3% of them had a college degree or higher and 77.8% were employed. The mean infant age and weight (range) were 11 (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) months and 9.8 (7.6-12.5) kg, respectively. The majority of the infants (86.7%) were female (Table 1).…”