Zhang Yanxia, Wang Xinkai, Sabel Clive E, He Huan, Thomsen Marianne, Zhong Ming, Chen Zhikun, Wang Weixi, Huang Biao
School of Environment, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210023, China; Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark; BERTHA - Big Data Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark.
Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China.
Environ Res. 2025 Mar 1;268:120748. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.120748. Epub 2024 Dec 31.
Chinese people are experiencing phthalate exposure risks. However, temporal and regional phthalate internal exposure variations amongst Chinese have not been established. To address this gap, we integrated our 69 adult participants' bio-monitored urinary phthalate metabolite (UPM) concentration data by high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry in Xi'an and Nanjing and the data from 35 literature (total sample size: 18768). Then, we analyzed China's temporal and spatial variations of adult UPM levels from 2005 to 2020 based on multi statistical methods. The results showed that the sum of eight UPM concentrations (i.e., monomethyl phthalate (MMP), mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MNBP), mono-2-isobutyl phthalate, mono-benzyl phthalate, and three metabolites from di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHPM3)) had slightly increased in 2013-2020 (median: 230 (5th-95th: 73.7-653) ng/mL) compared with the period 2005-2012, which were about two times higher than the levels in most EU countries. The MNBP concentration between 2013 and 2020 (120 ng/mL, shared 52% of the eight UPM concentrations) has significantly increased to over two times the level between 2005 and 2012, followed by the DEHPM3 with a similar trend. Conversely, MEP and MMP concentrations in the later period decreased from the former period. In China, adults had the highest UPM concentrations in the East and the lowest in the Middle. The adults in the East, the North, the South, and the Northeast had higher adverse phthalate exposure risks than the adults in the West and the Middle, and the Hazard index (HI) values were the highest in the East (1.61 (5th-95th: 1.01-3.07)). The adult exposure risks in the West had large heterogeneities (HIs: 0.46 (0.11-2.37). Regional variations in climate, the economy, industrial technology, and living styles could cause phthalate exposure differences. China needs to enhance tight regulation and enforcement of di-n-butyl phthalate (DNBP) (the parent of MNBP) and DEHP to protect public health.
中国人正面临邻苯二甲酸盐暴露风险。然而，中国人邻苯二甲酸盐体内暴露的时间和区域差异尚未明确。为填补这一空白，我们整合了在西安和南京通过高效液相色谱-质谱法对69名成年参与者进行生物监测得到的尿邻苯二甲酸酯代谢物（UPM）浓度数据以及35篇文献的数据（总样本量：18768）。然后，我们基于多种统计方法分析了2005年至2020年中国成年人UPM水平的时间和空间变化。结果显示，2013年至2020年，8种UPM浓度之和（即单甲基邻苯二甲酸酯（MMP）、单乙基邻苯二甲酸酯（MEP）、单正丁基邻苯二甲酸酯（MNBP）、单-2-异丁基邻苯二甲酸酯、单苄基邻苯二甲酸酯以及邻苯二甲酸二（2-乙基己基）酯的3种代谢物（DEHPM3））相较于2005年至2012年略有上升（中位数：230（第5-95百分位数：73.7-653）ng/mL），约为大多数欧盟国家水平的两倍。2013年至2020年期间MNBP浓度（120 ng/mL，占8种UPM浓度的52%）显著增加至2005年至2012年水平的两倍多，DEHPM3也有类似趋势。相反，后期MEP和MMP浓度较前期有所下降。在中国，成年人的UPM浓度东部最高，中部最低。东部、北部、南部和东北部的成年人比西部和中部的成年人面临更高的邻苯二甲酸盐不良暴露风险，东部的危害指数（HI）值最高（1.61（第5-95百分位数：1.01-3.07））。西部成年人的暴露风险存在较大异质性（HI：0.46（0.11-2.37））。气候、经济、工业技术和生活方式的区域差异可能导致邻苯二甲酸盐暴露差异。中国需要加强对邻苯二甲酸二正丁酯（DNBP）（MNBP的母体）和邻苯二甲酸二（2-乙基己基）酯（DEHP）的严格监管和执法，以保护公众健康。
