Environmental Health Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Ministry of Environment, Incheon, South Korea.
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2019 Jun;222(5):903-910. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2019.02.003. Epub 2019 Feb 15.
Phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) have been used in a variety of consumer products and are detected widely in both humans and the environment. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics that affect exposure to these chemicals have been investigated among several general populations; however, nationally-representative population-based studies are limited to Canada, Germany, and the USA. Moreover, relatively little is known about the socio-demographic characteristics that influence exposure to these chemicals among nationally representative populations of Asia.
Data are obtained from the Korean National Environmental Health Survey (2012-2014). In total, 6,478 adults (aged 19 and older) were recruited and sampled for urinary levels of major phthalate metabolites and bisphenol A. In addition, demographic and socio-economic parameters were determined from questionnaire data and the characteristics associated with urinary concentrations of the target chemicals were assessed.
Urinary levels of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) metabolites of Korean adults were generally higher, but those of mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP) were lower, and BPA were similar or higher than those reported from national biomonitoring programs in the United States and Canada. Similar to other nationally representative populations, females and older adults showed higher creatinine-adjusted phthalate metabolite and BPA levels among the Korean population. Meanwhile, monthly household income and education were negatively associated with urinary phthalate metabolites. Among personal care products, nail polish use was positively associated with both phthalate metabolites and BPA concentrations in urine.
Our observations based on a nationally representative population of Korea show that socio-demographic determinants for these urinary chemicals vary by country, and should be considered for developing appropriate mitigation measures and policies.
邻苯二甲酸酯和双酚 A（BPA）已广泛应用于各种消费产品中，并在人类和环境中广泛检测到。已经在多个一般人群中调查了影响这些化学物质暴露的人口统计学和社会经济特征；然而，具有代表性的全国性人群研究仅限于加拿大、德国和美国。此外，对于亚洲具有代表性的人群中影响这些化学物质暴露的社会人口统计学特征，人们知之甚少。
数据来自韩国国家环境健康调查（2012-2014 年）。共有 6478 名成年人（年龄在 19 岁及以上）被招募并采集尿液，以检测主要邻苯二甲酸代谢物和双酚 A 的水平。此外，从问卷调查数据中确定了人口统计学和社会经济参数，并评估了与目标化学物质尿液浓度相关的特征。
韩国成年人的双（2-乙基己基）邻苯二甲酸酯（DEHP）和邻苯二甲酸二丁酯（DBP）代谢物的尿液水平普遍较高，但邻苯二甲酸单苄酯（MBzP）的尿液水平较低，而 BPA 的水平与美国和加拿大的全国生物监测计划报告的水平相似或更高。与其他具有代表性的人群一样，女性和老年人的尿液中邻苯二甲酸代谢物和 BPA 的肌酐调整水平较高。同时，家庭月收入和教育与尿液中邻苯二甲酸代谢物呈负相关。在个人护理产品中，指甲油的使用与尿液中邻苯二甲酸代谢物和 BPA 的浓度呈正相关。
我们基于韩国具有代表性的人群的观察结果表明，这些尿液化学物质的社会人口统计学决定因素因国家而异，在制定适当的缓解措施和政策时应予以考虑。
