Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States.
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Apr 25;57(16):6435-6443. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c05911. Epub 2023 Apr 11.
Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are an emerging class of chemicals used in a variety of consumer products as flame retardants, plasticizers, and additives. While prior epidemiologic studies suggest that OPEs may impact respiratory health, results remain inconclusive. We examined associations between urinary biomarkers of OPEs and symptoms of respiratory morbidity in a panel study of 147 predominantly Black school-aged children with asthma living in Baltimore City, Maryland. The study consisted of up to four seasonal, week-long, in-home visits where urine samples and self-reported asthma symptoms were collected on days 4 and 7 ( = 438). We quantified concentrations of nine urinary OPE biomarkers: bis(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (BCEtp), bis(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BCPP), bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCIPP), di-n-butyl phosphate (DBuP), di-benzyl phosphate (DBzP), di-o-cresylphosphate (DOCP), di-p-cresylphosphate (DPCP), di-(2-propylheptyl) phthalate (DPHP), and 2,3,4,5-tetrabromo benzoic acid (TBBA). We estimated prevalence odds ratios (POR) of respiratory morbidity symptoms using logistic regression with generalized estimating equations to account for our repeated measure design. We assessed BDCIPP and DPHP as continuous (log) concentrations and dichotomized exposure of BCEtP, DBuP, and DPCP (detect vs non-detect) based on their lower detection frequencies. We adjusted models for season, visit day, age, gender, caregiver education, health insurance type, exposure to household smoking, atopy, and PM. Higher DPHP concentrations were significantly associated with odds of daytime symptoms (POR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.04-1.53; = 0.02) where daytime symptoms consisted of trouble breathing due to asthma, reporting bother caused by asthma, and/or limitation in activities due to asthma. DBuP detection was associated with use of rescue medication on the day of sample collection (POR: 2.36; 95% CI: 1.05-5.29; = 0.04). We also observed several consistent, albeit non-significant ( > 0.05), positive associations for BCEtP and DPCP and respiratory morbidity measures. This is the first study to evaluate the relationship between OPE biomarkers and respiratory morbidity symptoms in children with asthma, and findings suggest that further studies are warranted to confirm whether these associations are causal.
有机磷酸酯 (OPEs) 是一类新兴的化学物质，广泛应用于各种消费品中，作为阻燃剂、增塑剂和添加剂。尽管先前的流行病学研究表明 OPEs 可能对呼吸系统健康产生影响，但结果仍存在不确定性。我们在马里兰州巴尔的摩市的一项针对 147 名主要为黑人的学龄期哮喘儿童的队列研究中，检查了尿液中 OPE 生物标志物与呼吸道疾病症状之间的关联。该研究包括最多四次季节性、为期一周的家庭访问，在这些访问中收集尿液样本和自我报告的哮喘症状，时间为第 4 天和第 7 天（=438）。我们定量了九种尿液 OPE 生物标志物的浓度：双（2-氯乙基）磷酸酯（BCEtp）、双（1-氯-2-丙基）磷酸酯（BCPP）、双（1,3-二氯-2-丙基）磷酸酯（BDCIPP）、二正丁基磷酸酯（DBuP）、二苄基磷酸酯（DBzP）、二-o-邻甲苯基磷酸酯（DOCP）、二-p-邻甲苯基磷酸酯（DPCP）、二-（2-丙基庚基）邻苯二甲酸酯（DPHP）和 2,3,4,5-四溴苯甲酸（TBBA）。我们使用逻辑回归和广义估计方程来估计呼吸道疾病症状的患病率比值比（POR），以考虑到我们的重复测量设计。我们将 BDCIPP 和 DPHP 作为连续（对数）浓度进行评估，并根据 BCEtP、DBuP 和 DPCP 的较低检测频率将其暴露情况分为检测与非检测（检测/非检测）。我们调整了模型以考虑季节、访问日、年龄、性别、照顾者教育、保险类型、家庭吸烟暴露、特应性和 PM。较高的 DPHP 浓度与日间症状的几率显著相关（POR：1.26；95%CI：1.04-1.53； = 0.02），其中日间症状包括由于哮喘导致的呼吸困难、报告哮喘引起的不适以及/或由于哮喘导致的活动受限。DBuP 的检测与当天样本采集时使用急救药物有关（POR：2.36；95%CI：1.05-5.29； = 0.04）。我们还观察到 BCEtP 和 DPCP 与呼吸道疾病测量值之间存在一些一致的、但无统计学意义的（>0.05）正相关。这是第一项评估 OPE 生物标志物与儿童哮喘呼吸道疾病症状之间关系的研究，研究结果表明，需要进一步研究以确认这些关联是否具有因果关系。
