From science to policy: How European HBM indicators help to answer policy questions related to phthalates and DINCH exposure

Gerofke, Antje; David, Madlen; Schmidt, Phillipp; Vicente, Joana Lobo; Buekers, Jurgen; Gilles, Liese; Colles, Ann; Bessems, Jos; Bastiaensen, Michiel; Hond, Elly Den; Koppen, Gudrun; Laeremans, Michelle; Verheyen, Veerle J.; Černá, Milena; Klánová, Jana; Krsková, Andrea; Zvonař, Martin; Knudsen, Lisbeth E.; Koch, Holger; Jensen, Tina Kold; Rambaud, Loı̈c; Riou, Margaux; Vogel, Nina; Gabriel, Catherine; Karakitsios, Spyros; Papaioannou, N.; Sarigiannis, D; Kakucs, Réka; Középesy, Szilvia; Rudnai, Péter; Szigeti, Tamás; Barbone, Fabio; Rosolen, Valentina; Guignard, Cédric; Gutleb, Arno C.; Sakhi, Amrit Kaur; Haug, Line Småstuen; Janasik, Beata; Ligocka, Danuta; Eštóková, Milada; Fábelová, Lucia; Kolena, Branislav; Murínová, Ľubica Palkovičová; Petrovičová, Ida; Richterová, Denisa; Horvat, Milena; Mazej, Darja; Tratnik, Janja Snoj; Runkel, Agneta A.; Castaño, Argelia; Esteban-López, Marta; Pedraza-Dı́az, Susana; Åkesson, Agneta; Lignell, Sanna; Vlaanderen, Jelle; Zock, Jan‐Paul; Schoeters, Greet; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike

doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.114073

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Of course, COPHES/DEMOCOPHES data were included in this approach, but they reflected only one part of the mosaic, as it only included mother–child pairs, with sample collection from 2011–2012. In HBM4EU, several research protocols were developed to investigate and answer policy questions on the group of phthalates: cumulative mixture risk exposure to phthalates in children and adolescents [ 13 ], impact and results indicators for European HBM [ 14 ], time trends of phthalates and DINCH with repeated cross-sectional data [ 15 ], current exposure of European children and adolescents to phthalates and DINCH [ 16 ], exposure determinants in the European population (in preparation), and exposure distributions for various age groups of the European population from 2005 to 2019 (this study).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to Phthalates in European Children, Adolescents and Adults since 2005: A Harmonized Approach Based on Existing HBM Data in the HBM4EU Initiative

Vogel

Lange

Schmidt

et al. 2023

Toxics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Phthalates are mainly used as plasticizers and are associated inter alia with adverse effects on reproductive functions. While more and more national programs in Europe have started monitoring internal exposure to phthalates and its substitute 1,2-Cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (DINCH), the comparability of results from such existing human biomonitoring (HBM) studies across Europe is challenging. They differ widely in time periods, study samples, degree of geographical coverage, design, analytical methodology, biomarker selection, and analytical quality assurance level. The HBM4EU initiative has gathered existing HBM data of 29 studies from participating countries, covering all European regions and Israel. The data were prepared and aggregated by a harmonized procedure with the aim to describe—as comparably as possible—the EU-wide general population’s internal exposure to phthalates from the years 2005 to 2019. Most data were available from Northern (up to 6 studies and up to 13 time points), Western (11; 19), and Eastern Europe (9; 12), e.g., allowing for the investigation of time patterns. While the bandwidth of exposure was generally similar, we still observed regional differences for Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBzP), Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), Di-isononyl phthalate (DiNP), and Di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP) with pronounced decreases over time in Northern and Western Europe, and to a lesser degree in Eastern Europe. Differences between age groups were visible for Di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), where children (3 to 5-year olds and 6 to 11-year olds) had lower urinary concentrations than adolescents (12 to 19-year-olds), who in turn had lower urinary concentrations than adults (20 to 39-year-olds). This study is a step towards making internal exposures to phthalates comparable across countries, although standardized data were not available, targeting European data sets harmonized with respect to data formatting and calculation of aggregated data (such as developed within HBM4EU), and highlights further suggestions for improved harmonization in future studies.

show abstract