Abstract
Products used in daily life can contain chemicals such as parabens, benzophenones, triclosan, and triclocarban that have potential endocrine-disrupting effects. Little is known about the temporal trends of exposure levels to some of these chemicals in Japan. Our study assessed the intake and risk associated with exposure to commonly used chemicals. We measured the concentrations of five parabens, four benzophenones, and triclosan and triclocarban in 133 single spot urine samples. The urine samples were collected in 1993, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2011, and 2016 from healthy female residents in Kyoto, Japan. With the exception of methylparaben, ethylparaben, and butylparaben, there were no significant fluctuations in the concentrations of target chemicals over the study period; however, methylparaben, ethylparaben, and butylparaben showed temporal changes in concentrations. Methylparaben concentrations peaked in 2003 with a median value of 309 μg/g creatinine, ethylparaben concentrations peaked in 1993 with a median value of 17.3 μg/g creatinine, and butylparaben showed a decline, with the median values becoming non-detectable in 2009 and 2016. We calculated estimated daily intakes and hazard quotients for each chemical. In the analysis of total samples, 2.3% (3 samples) for butylparaben and 0.8% (1 sample) for propylparaben were found to surpass a hazard quotient of 1. Overall, 3% (n = 4) of the study participants exceeded a hazard index of 1. The potential health risks associated with exposure to butylparaben and propylparaben emphasize the need for further monitoring and research.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request under the ethical guidelines for medical and biological research involving human subjects in Japan..
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Acknowledgements
We thank Charles Allan, PhD, from Edanz (https://jp.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.
Funding
This study was supported by Grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant Nos. 23590739, 17H06281 and 120188819). Zhaoqing Lyu received a research fellowship supported by Japan Science and Technology Agency SPRING (Grant No. JPMJSP2110).
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Kouji H. Harada, Younglim Kho and Kyungho Choi contributed to the study conception and design and supervised the study. Material collection was performed by Zhaoqing Lyu, Toshiaki Hitomi, and Yukiko Fujii. Sample preparation and chemical analyses were performed by Sungmin Kim, Nayoun Park, and Younglim Kho. Statistical analysis was performed by Nao Yoshida, and Zhaoqing Lyu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Nao Yoshida, and Zhaoqing Lyu. All authors reviewed and commented on the first draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Yoshida, N., Lyu, Z., Kim, S. et al. Temporal trends in exposure to parabens, benzophenones, triclosan, and triclocarban in adult females in Kyoto, Japan, from 1993 to 2016. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33627-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33627-w