Urinary Bisphenol A Concentrations and Their Implications for Human Exposure in Several Asian Countries

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Due to the potential of this compound to disrupt normal endocrinal functions, concerns over human exposure to BPA have been raised. Although several studies have reported human exposure to BPA in Western nations, little is known about exposure in Asian countries. In this study, we determined total urinary BPA concentrations (free plus conjugated) in 296 urine samples (male/female: 153/143) collected from the general population in seven Asian countries, China, India, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, and Vietnam, using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). On the basis of urinary BPA concentrations, we estimated the total daily intake. The results indicated that BPA was detected in 94.3% of the samples analyzed, at concentrations ranging from <0.1 to 30.1 ng/mL. The geometric mean concentration of BPA for the entire sample set from seven countries was 1.20 ng/mL. The highest concentration of BPA was found in samples from Kuwait (median: 3.05 ng/mL, 2.45 μg/g creatinine), followed by Korea (2.17 ng/mL, 2.40 μg/g), India (1.71 ng/mL, 2.09 μg/g), Vietnam (1.18 ng/mL, 1.15 μg/g), China (1.10 ng/mL, 1.38 μg/g), Malaysia (1.06 ng/mL, 2.31 μg/g), and Japan (0.95 ng/mL, 0.58 μg/g). Among the five age groups studied (≤ 19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and ≥ 50 years), the highest median concentration of BPA was found in urine samples from the age group of ≤ 19 years. There was no significant difference in BPA concentrations between genders (male and female) or domicile of residence (rural and urban). The estimated median daily intakes of BPA for the populations in Kuwait, Korea, India, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Japan were 5.19, 3.69, 2.90, 2.13, 2.01, 1.80, and 1.61 μg/day, respectively. The estimated daily intake of BPA in the seven Asian countries was significantly lower than the tolerable daily intake recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This is the first study to document the occurrence of and human exposure to BPA in several Asian countries.

Bisphenol S in Urine from the United States and Seven Asian Countries: Occurrence and Human Exposures

“…11 Overall, the GM concentrations of BPA in urine samples from each country were higher than those of BPS. For example, (Figure 1).…”

“…39, 40 Given the similarity in molecular structure between BPS and BPA, we estimated human exposure to BPS based on a model reported for BPA. 11,40 Estimated daily intake (EDI; μg/day) = urinary BPS concentration (μg/L) × urine excretion rate (L/day). The urine output varies by age and sex and is reported to be about 1.2−2 L/day for adults.…”

“…These results were similar to what was found previously for BPA in the same set of samples. 11 We categorized the samples into five age groups, namely ≤19, 20−29, 30−39, 40−49, and ≥50 years, for the examination of the relationship between age and BPS concentrations. Among the five age groups, for the entire data set, the highest concentrations of BPS in urine samples were found in the age group of ≤19 years (n = 33), with GM and median concentrations of 0.305 and 0.302 μg/g Cre; followed by the group of 30−39 years (n = 62; 0.243 and 0.239 μg/g Cre), and 20−29 years (n = 90; 0.172 and 0.206 μg/g Cre) ( Table 1).…”

“…The EDIs of BPS by the populations in the seven Asian countries were 1−2 orders of magnitude lower than the EDIs reported for BPA (Table 2). 11 It should be noted that several uncertainties exist in the assessment of exposure to BPS based on the measured urinary concentrations. The pharmacokinetics of BPS is not well understood, and we assumed that BPS and BPA have similar pharmacokinetics.…”

Effects of Chitosan Intake on Fecal Excretion of Bisphenol A and Di(2-ethyl)phthalate in Rats

“…BPA, a highly lipophilic chemical and one of the most widely produced EDCs, is used in manufacturing polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, 1,2) used in the packaging of foods and beverages. Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a highly lipophilic phthalate ester used to providing flexibility to polyvinyl plastic.…”