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Exposure characteristics of phthalate metabolites among the Zunyi cohort of pregnant women in Southwest China

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Abstract

Reported evidence has increasingly indicated that exposure to phthalates can cause adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, phthalate exposure levels among pregnant women remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the concentrations and predictors of phthalate metabolites in urine samples of the ongoing Zunyi cohort of pregnant women from Southwest China. The urine samples were collected from 1003 pregnant women during their third trimester of pregnancy. The concentrations of nine phthalate metabolites in urine samples were then determined. Data on socio-demographic profiles of the participants, lifestyle during pregnancy, parity, and sampling season were collected using questionnaires. The detectable rate of phthalate metabolites ranged from 76 to 100%. On average, mono-butyl phthalate exhibited the highest median concentration (62.45 μg/L), while mono-benzyl phthalate exhibited the lowest median concentration (0.04 μg/L). Urine concentrations of phthalate metabolites were significantly higher in older, multiparous, higher body mass index, higher income, and passive smoking during pregnancy participants. The levels of low-molecular-weight phthalate metabolites were highest during the summer. The findings indicate the health of pregnant women and fetuses in Zunyi may be generally harmed by the high exposure of phthalate metabolites, especially by mono-n-butyl phthalate. In addition, phthalate metabolites present a demographic and seasonal differential distribution among the study population. Targeted measures to reduce phthalate exposure for high-risk pregnant women and during high-exposure seasons may have potential benefits for maternal and fetal health protection.

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Data availability

Data associated with the present study can be accessed on request to the author (630140512@qq.com).

Abbreviations

DEHP:

mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate

DBP:

di-n-butyl phthalate

BMI:

body mass index

GC-MS/MS:

high-performance gas chromatography mass spectrometry

MMP:

mono-methyl phthalate

MEP:

mono-ethyl phthalate

MiBP:

mono-isobutyl phthalate

MBP:

mono-butyl phthalate

MOP:

mono-octyl phthalate

MBZP:

mono-benzyl phthalate

MEHP:

mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate

MEOHP:

mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate

MEHHP:

mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate

LOD:

the limit of detection

LMW:

low-molecular-weight

ΣLMW:

the total sum of low-molecular-weight phthalates (MMP, MEP, and MBP)

∑DEHP:

the total sum of the three metabolites (MEHP, MEOHP, and MEHHP)

SD:

standard deviation

UA:

unadjusted

CA:

creatinine-adjusted

DR:

detectable rate

GM:

geometric mean

HMW:

high-molecular-weight

CI:

confidence interval

PCPs:

personal care products

DEP:

diethyl phthalat

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the participants and investigators

Funding

This work was supported by National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC1004300, 2018YFC1004302) and Science & Technology Program of Guizhou Province, China (QKHHBZ [2020]3002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soochow University Medical College, Suzhou, 215000, Jiangsu, China

    Juan Liao

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, 563000, Guizhou, China

    Juan Liao, Derong Fang & Quan Li

  3. School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, 563000, Guizhou, China

    Yijun Liu, Shimin Xiong, Xia Wang, Yingkuan Tian, Haonan Zhang, Songlin An, Caidie He, Wei Chen, Xiang Liu, Nian Wu, Kunming Tian, Xubo Shen & Yuanzhong Zhou

  4. The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, 563000, Guizhou, China

    Linglu Wang

  5. Xishui County People’s Hospital, Zunyi, 564600, Guizhou, China

    Ya Zhang & Hongyu Yuan

  6. Meitan County People’s Hospital, Zunyi, 564100, Guizhou, China

    Li Zhang

Authors
  1. Juan Liao
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  2. Derong Fang
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  3. Yijun Liu
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  5. Xia Wang
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  6. Yingkuan Tian
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  7. Haonan Zhang
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  8. Songlin An
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  9. Caidie He
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  10. Wei Chen
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  12. Nian Wu
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  13. Kunming Tian
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  14. Linglu Wang
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  15. Ya Zhang
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  16. Hongyu Yuan
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  17. Li Zhang
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  18. Quan Li
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  19. Xubo Shen
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  20. Yuanzhong Zhou
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Contributions

Juan Liao: formal analysis, investigation, validation, data curation, writing—original draft. derong fang: investigation, data curation. Yijun Liu: data curation, validation. Shimin Xiong: data curation, validation. Xia Wang: methodology, validation. Yingkuan Tian: methodology, validation. Haonan Zhang: methodology, validation. Songlin An: investigation, conceptualization. Caidie He: investigation, conceptualization. Wei Chen: investigation, conceptualization. Xiang Liu: investigation, conceptualization. Nian Wu: data curation, conceptualization. Kunming Tian: investigation, validation. Linglu Wang: investigation, validation. Ya Zhang: investigation, data curation. Hongyu Yuan: investigation, data curation. Li Zhang: investigation, data curation. Quan Li: project administration, investigation, validation, resources. Xubo Shen: Project administration, investigation, validation, resources. Yuanzhong Zhou: project administration, investigation, validation, resources, writing—review and editing, funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuanzhong Zhou.

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This study was ethically reviewed by the Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University (batch No.: KLL-2019-006).

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Liao, J., Fang, D., Liu, Y. et al. Exposure characteristics of phthalate metabolites among the Zunyi cohort of pregnant women in Southwest China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 58869–58880 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19990-6

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