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Probabilistic integrated risk assessment of human exposure risk to environmental bisphenol A pollution sources

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Abstract

Environmental bisphenol A (BPA) exposure has been linked to a variety of adverse health effects such as developmental and reproductive issues. However, establishing a clear association between BPA and the likelihood of human health is complex yet fundamentally uncertain. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential exposure risks from environmental BPA among Chinese population based on five human health outcomes, namely immune response, uterotrophic assay, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and behavior change. We addressed these health concerns by using a stochastic integrated risk assessment approach. The BPA dose-dependent likelihood of effects was reconstructed by a series of Hill models based on animal models or epidemiological data. We developed a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model that allows estimation of urinary BPA concentration from external exposures. Here we showed that the daily average exposure concentrations of BPA and urinary BPA estimates were consistent with the published data. We found that BPA exposures were less likely to pose significant risks for infants (0–1 year) and adults (male and female >20 years) with <10−6-fold increase in uterus weight and immune response outcomes, respectively. Moreover, our results indicated that there was 50 % risk probability that the response outcomes of CVD, diabetes, and behavior change with or without skin absorption would increase 10−4–10−2-fold. We conclude that our approach provides a powerful tool for tracking and managing human long-term BPA susceptibility in relation to multiple exposure pathways, and for informing the public of the negligible magnitude of environmental BPA pollution impacts on human health.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Council of Republic of China under Grant NSC 100-2313-B-002-012-MY3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, 11490, Republic of China

    Keng-Yen Fu

  2. Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 10617, Republic of China

    Yi-Hsien Cheng & Chung-Min Liao

  3. Institute of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, 10055, Republic of China

    Chia-Pin Chio

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  1. Keng-Yen Fu
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  2. Yi-Hsien Cheng
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  4. Chung-Min Liao
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Correspondence to Chung-Min Liao.

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The article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Fu, KY., Cheng, YH., Chio, CP. et al. Probabilistic integrated risk assessment of human exposure risk to environmental bisphenol A pollution sources. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 19897–19910 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7207-y

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