Blood and Urinary Bisphenol A Concentrations in Children, Adults, and Pregnant Women from China: Partitioning between Blood and Urine and Maternal and Fetal Cord Blood

Abstract

Limited information exists on exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) by children, adults, and pregnant women in China. In the present study, we determined BPA concentrations in whole blood collected from 10 children (1-5 years), 40 women (30 pregnant and 10 nonpregnant), and 30 fetuses (i.e., cord blood). Further, to evaluate the relationship between urinary and blood BPA concentrations, paired specimens of blood and urine (n = 50 pairs) were collected from an adult population. BPA was found in 46% of all blood samples analyzed, with a geometric mean (GM) concentration of 0.19 ng/mL. BPA was found in 84% of urine samples from adults, with a GM concentration of 1.01 ng/mL [0.48 μg/g creatinine (Cr)]. Gender and age were not good predictors of blood BPA concentrations. However, we did find that the creatinine-adjusted urinary BPA concentrations in females were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the concentrations found in males and that the blood BPA concentrations in children were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the concentrations found in adults. Among all adults, unadjusted urinary BPA concentrations (i.e., volume-based) were inversely (r = -0.312, p < 0.05) correlated with age when an outlier value (8.70 ng/mL) was excluded from analysis. Concentrations of BPA in urine (creatinine-adjusted) and blood were significantly correlated (r = 0.571, p < 0.01), with concentrations measured in urine approximately an order of magnitude higher than the concentrations found in blood. The mean and GM values for ratios of concentration of BPA between blood and urine were 0.109 and 0.057, respectively. The ratio of mean concentrations of BPA between cord blood and maternal blood was 0.108. On the basis of urinary BPA levels, we estimated the total daily intake (EDI) of BPA by Chinese adults. The mean (range) EDIs of BPA by adult males and females in China were 0.041 (<0.005-0.224) and 0.048 (<0.005-0.151) ug/kg bw/day, respectively. The pregnant women who underwent intravenous drug administration immediately before delivery had significantly higher concentrations of BPA in their blood than did those who did not receive intravenous drug administration. This is the first study to document the occurrence of and human exposure to BPA by pregnant women and fetuses from China.

Bisphenol A – Application, sources of exposure and potential risks in infants, children and pregnant women

“…Slightly lower concentration was observed in pregnant women (0.60 ng/ml, M±SD = 3.58±4.25 ng/ml, range: < 0.10-29.0 ng/ml), adults (0.11 ng/ml, M±SD = 0.20±0.18 ng/ml, range: < 0.10-2.27 ng/ml), fetal cord blood (0.08 ng/ml, M±SD = 0.13±0.12 ng/ml, range: < 0.10-0.79 ng/ml). The lowest concentration of BPA was observed in fetuses [86]. Probably fluids given by a drip may also provide BPA to the blood of pregnant women.…”

“…Similarly, among younger children, relatively higher daily rates of excretion of BPA (< 70 ng/kg b.w./24 h) were observed than in older children and 17-21-year-old adolescents, < 1 ng/ml and < 30 ng/kg b.w./24 h, respectively. Zhang et al (2013) [86] studied children (1-5-yearsold: N = 10) and women (pregnant: N = 30, and nonpregnant: N = 10), and fetuses (N = 30) from whom blood samples were collected. The highest concentration of BPA in blood was determined in children (2.60 ng/ml, M ± standard deviation (SD) = 3.18±1.16 ng/ml, range: 1.20-8.76 ng/ml).…”

“…Baby care products containing di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), could cause increase in the concentration of total BPA. Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate is also added and pregnant women [86]. Furthermore, concentrations in the blood can vary over time, so it can be unreliable [87].…”

Bisphenol A and other bisphenol analogues including BPS and BPF in surface water samples from Japan, China, Korea and India

“…Several studies have reported on the exposure of humans to BPA (Calafat et al, 2008;Vandenberg et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2011Zhang et al, , 2013. BPA has been reported to occur in a wide range of environmental samples including sediment, indoor dust, surface water, and drinking water (Staples et al, 1998;USEPA, 2010;Liao et al, 2012d;Lee et al, 2013;Wu et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2013;Selvaraj et al, 2014;Colin et al, 2014;Lee et al, 2015). Human and environmental exposure to BPA is a concern because studies have shown that this chemical is a potential endocrine disruptor (Tsai, 2006;Vandenberg et al, 2009;Rogers et al, 2013).…”

Emission patterns and risk assessment of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and bromophenols in water and sediments from the Beijiang River, South China

“…Due to the diverse uses of BPA in consumer products, it has been regularly detected in a wide range of environmental matrices, including air, water, sewage sludge and sediments (Huang et al, 2012;Lee et al, 2013;Xiong et al, 2015), even human blood and tissues (Vandenberg et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2013). Several studies have reported that BPA is a potential endocrine disruptor (Rogers et al, 2013;Vandenberg et al, 2010).…”