Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain.
Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2013 Jun;216(3):230-42. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2012.05.009. Epub 2012 Jul 12.
There are emerging concerns about potential effects on child health and development of early-life exposure to substances such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), phthalates and phenols (including bisphenol A (BPA)); pregnancy and birth cohort studies are ideally designed to study such concerns prospectively. As part of the ENRIECO project, we evaluated existing human biomonitoring data for these substances in European birth cohorts and develop recommendations for more harmonized methods that will enable combination and comparison of cohort data in the future. The ENRIECO inventory shows that 20 European birth cohorts have measured or are measuring BFRs (N=10), PFCs (N=11), phthalates (N=16) or phenols (N=8). Generally, samples were collected prenatally or at birth and measurements involved few subjects in each cohort (a few hundred maximum). Biological matrices, timing, and analytical methods of the measurements varied between cohorts. Few cohorts have measured at multiple time points or in children. In European cohorts, levels of BFRs were very low and at least 10-fold lower than in US; levels of PFCs and phthalates have decreased over the last decade since the phasing out of certain of these compounds; concentrations of phenols are comparable to those in the US. Although there is little published data in the cohorts now, many measurements are ongoing and we recommend that cohorts start working towards combined and comparison studies. Specific recommendations for use of existing data include the development of conversion models for the different media used for measurement of persistent chemicals, and inter-laboratory comparisons and calibrations. Recommendations for further data collection include more evaluation of exposure to these chemicals in children; repeated measurements of non-persistent chemicals; validation and harmonisation of questionnaires; and the development of mechanisms for fast European birth cohort response for the detection and prioritisation of new chemicals of concern.
人们对儿童在生命早期接触溴化阻燃剂 (BFRs)、全氟化合物 (PFCs)、邻苯二甲酸酯和酚类物质（包括双酚 A (BPA)）等物质对健康和发育的潜在影响感到担忧；妊娠和出生队列研究最适合前瞻性研究这些问题。作为 ENRIECO 项目的一部分，我们评估了欧洲出生队列中这些物质的现有人体生物监测数据，并为更协调的方法提出了建议，这些方法将使未来能够合并和比较队列数据。ENRIECO 清单显示，有 20 个欧洲出生队列已经测量或正在测量 BFRs（N=10）、PFCs（N=11）、邻苯二甲酸酯（N=16）或酚类物质（N=8）。一般来说，样本是在产前或出生时采集的，每个队列的测量样本数量很少（最多几百个）。生物基质、测量时间和分析方法在队列之间有所不同。很少有队列在多个时间点或在儿童中进行测量。在欧洲队列中，BFR 水平非常低，比美国低至少 10 倍；自某些此类化合物淘汰以来，过去十年中 PFCs 和邻苯二甲酸酯的水平有所下降；酚类物质的浓度与美国相当。尽管现在队列中发表的数据很少，但许多测量仍在进行，我们建议队列开始进行联合和比较研究。使用现有数据的具体建议包括为测量持久性化学物质的不同介质开发转换模型，以及进行实验室间比较和校准。进一步数据收集的建议包括更评估儿童接触这些化学物质的情况；重复测量非持久性化学物质；验证和协调问卷；并开发快速欧洲出生队列响应机制，以检测和优先考虑新的关注化学物质。
