The effects of phthalate and nonylphenol exposure on body size and secondary sexual characteristics during puberty.
BACKGROUND
Some phthalic acid esters (PAEs) and nonylphenol (NP) are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that are widely used in consumer products. Consequently, the general population is exposed simultaneously to both groups of chemicals.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the single- and co-exposure effects of PAEs (DMP, DEP, DnBP, DiBP, BBzP, and DEHP) and NP on obesity and pubertal maturity to compare the body sizes of general adolescents with the complainants of the phthalate-tainted foods scandal that occurred in Taiwan.


METHODS
This study included 270 general adolescents aged 6.5-15.0 years and 38 complainants aged 6.5-8.5 years. Nine metabolites of the five PAEs and of NP were measured in urine. We used a questionnaire to evaluate pubertal maturity, measured anthropometric indices (APs) to assess body size, and collected urine samples to measure the two groups of chemicals.


RESULTS
We found that urinary PAE metabolite concentrations (specifically, metabolites of DEP, DnBP, DiBP, and DEHP) were positively associated with the APs for abdominal obesity (including skinfold thickness, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, and waist-to-hip) and indicated a dose-response relationship. Mono-methyl phthalate (MMP) exposure was inversely associated with pubarche among boys. The daily intake of DEHP in general adolescents exceeded the reference doses (RfD-20 μg/kgbw/day) and tolerable daily intake (TDI-50 μg/kgbw/day) by 3.4% and 0.4%, respectively. No associations were observed between NP exposure or co-exposure and the APs or pubertal maturity. No significant differences were observed between general adolescents and the complainants with regard to weight, height, or BMI.


CONCLUSIONS
The study suggests that PAE (specifically, DEP, DnBP, DiBP, and DEHP) exposure is associated with abdominal obesity in adolescents and that the APs for abdominal obesity are more sensitive than BMI for measuring obesity among adolescents. We suggest that the RfD and TDI for PAEs should be revised to provide sufficient protection.
['Hou|Jia-Woei|JW|', 'Lin|Ching-Ling|CL|', 'Tsai|Yen-An|YA|', 'Chang|Chia-Huang|CH|', 'Liao|Kai-Wei|KW|', 'Yu|Ching-Jung|CJ|', 'Yang|Winnie|W|', 'Lee|Ming-Jun|MJ|', 'Huang|Po-Chin|PC|', 'Sun|Chien-Wen|CW|', 'Wang|Yin-Han|YH|', 'Lin|Fang-Ru|FR|', 'Wu|Wen-Chiu|WC|', 'Lee|Meng-Chih|MC|', 'Pan|Wen-Harn|WH|', 'Chen|Bai-Hsiun|BH|', 'Wu|Ming-Tsang|MT|', 'Chen|Chu-Chih|CC|', 'Wang|Shu-Li|SL|', 'Lee|Ching-Chang|CC|', 'Hsiung|Chao Agnes|CA|', 'Chen|Mei-Lien|ML|']
D000293:Adolescent D000886:Anthropometry D049628:Body Size D001835:Body Weight D002648:Child D004051:Diethylhexyl Phthalate D052244:Endocrine Disruptors D004781:Environmental Exposure D004785:Environmental Pollutants D005260:Female D005506:Food Contamination D006801:Humans D008297:Male D056128:Obesity, Abdominal D063766:Pediatric Obesity D010636:Phenols D010795:Phthalic Acids D011627:Puberty D012016:Reference Values D012727:Sex Characteristics D013624:Taiwan
Nonylphenol Phthalic acid esters Endocrine-disrupting chemicals Obesity Pubertal maturity