Department of Integrative Bioscience & Biotechnology, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea.
Department of Environmental Health, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Mar 15;618:690-696. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.019. Epub 2017 Oct 19.
Recent studies indicated that exposure to phthalates affects the development of a variety of diseases in the elderly population. However, limited information was available about the variability of phthalate daily intakes (DIs) and the proportion of the population that is highly exposed to phthalates. Therefore, we measured the levels of three phthalate metabolites, mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP) in 4014 urine samples repeatedly collected from 1646 elderly people. The DIs of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) were calculated using urinary MEHHP, MEOHP, and MnBP levels, and then the proportion of the population that was highly exposed to DEHP and DnBP was calculated. The intra-class correlation (ICC) for MEHHP, MEOHP, and MnBP levels was 0.07, 0.02, and 0.03, respectively, and exposures to DEHP and DnBP were strongly correlated with each other (correlation coefficient=0.89 and p-value<0.0001). The geometric mean of estimated DI was 8.8μg/kg/day (range 0.005-3382.0) for DEHP and 1.5μg/kg/day (range 0.0002-1076.8) for DnBP. The percentages of urine samples with DEHP > reference dose (RfD, 20μg/kg/day) and DnBP > tolerable daily intake (TDI, 10μg/kg/day) were 20.2% and 3.6%, respectively. The Korean elderly were co-exposed to DEHP and DnBP, and the variation of DEHP and DnBP metabolite levels was mainly attributed to intra-individual variation, rather than inter-individual variation. Furthermore, Korean elderly were exposed to the hazards of DEHP and DnBP based on the high level of the exceedance rate over TDI or RfD for DEHP and DnBP. Since the elderly are very susceptible to environmental pollutants, the harmful effects of DEHP and DnBP in the elderly population should be further studied in the future.
最近的研究表明，邻苯二甲酸酯的暴露会影响老年人群中多种疾病的发展。然而，关于邻苯二甲酸酯每日摄入量（DI）的可变性以及高度暴露于邻苯二甲酸酯的人群比例的信息有限。因此，我们测量了 1646 名老年人重复采集的 4014 份尿液样本中三种邻苯二甲酸酯代谢物的水平，分别为单-(2-乙基-5-羟基己基)邻苯二甲酸酯（MEHHP）、单-(2-乙基-5-氧代己基)邻苯二甲酸酯（MEOHP）和单正丁基邻苯二甲酸酯（MnBP）。通过尿 MEHHP、MEOHP 和 MnBP 水平计算了二（2-乙基己基）邻苯二甲酸酯（DEHP）和二正丁基邻苯二甲酸酯（DnBP）的 DI，然后计算了高度暴露于 DEHP 和 DnBP 的人群比例。MEHHP、MEOHP 和 MnBP 水平的组内相关系数（ICC）分别为 0.07、0.02 和 0.03，DEHP 和 DnBP 的暴露相互之间呈强相关性（相关系数=0.89，p 值<0.0001）。DEHP 的估计 DI 的几何平均值为 8.8μg/kg/天（范围为 0.005-3382.0），DnBP 的几何平均值为 1.5μg/kg/天（范围为 0.0002-1076.8）。DEHP 超过参考剂量（RfD，20μg/kg/天）和 DnBP 超过可耐受每日摄入量（TDI，10μg/kg/天）的尿液样本百分比分别为 20.2%和 3.6%。韩国老年人同时接触 DEHP 和 DnBP，DEHP 和 DnBP 代谢物水平的变化主要归因于个体内变异，而不是个体间变异。此外，由于 DEHP 和 DnBP 的超过 TDI 或 RfD 的水平率很高，韩国老年人已经暴露在 DEHP 和 DnBP 的危害之下。由于老年人对环境污染物非常敏感，因此未来应进一步研究 DEHP 和 DnBP 对老年人群的有害影响。
