Estimating bisphenol exposures in the Australian population

Date:
July 29, 2020
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Once found in bottles, food containers, cash register receipts and
electronics, bisphenol A (BPA) has been phased out of many products
because of health concerns and government regulations. As a result,
the production and use of BPA analogs, which are unregulated and
poorly understood, have increased. Now, by analyzing urine samples
and wastewater, researchers report how human exposure to bisphenols
has changed over time in an Australian population.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Once found in bottles, food containers, cash register receipts and
electronics, bisphenol A (BPA) has been phased out of many products
because of health concerns and government regulations. As a result,
the production and use of BPA analogs, which are unregulated and
poorly understood, have increased. Now, by analyzing urine samples
and wastewater, researchers report in ACS' Environmental Science &
Technology how human exposure to bisphenols has changed over time in an Australian population.


==========================================================================
BPA is used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy
resins. An endocrine disruptor, the compound readily leaches from these products, and high levels have been linked to health problems in humans
and laboratory animals.

With increasing regulation and unfavorable public opinion, BPA is being replaced with similar compounds, such as bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol
F (BPF), bisphenol B (BPB) and bisphenol AF (BP-AF). However, these
compounds have not been well studied, and despite their similar chemical structures to BPA, they are largely unregulated. Chang He and colleagues
wanted to use pooled urine samples and wastewater collected from South
East Queensland, Australia, to estimate exposure to various bisphenols
over a 6-year period.

Between 2012 and 2017, the team collected urine samples from a pathology
lab and wastewater samples from three wastewater treatment plants. For
each 2-year period, they pooled urine samples from the lab by age and sex
so that they could determine average levels of bisphenol exposure. Using
liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry, the researchers detected
BPA in all pooled urine samples, and BPS in 97% of samples, whereas BPB,
BPF and BP-AF were not found in any samples. Over the years, urinary
levels of BPA decreased, while BPS increased. Higher levels of BPA were measured in younger age groups, which might reflect the presence of
BPA in many children's products, such as bottles and toys, manufactured
in Australia before 2010. In wastewater, BPA and BPS were detected in
all samples, and BPF in 29% of samples. The levels of these bisphenols
in wastewater were much higher than predicted from urinary excretion, indicating that most of the compounds arose from leaching from plastic products, industrial input or other sources.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Shaoyu Tang, Chang He, Phong K. Thai, Amy Heffernan, Soumini
Vijayasarathy, Leisa Toms, Kristie Thompson, Peter Hobson,
Benjamin J.

Tscharke, Jake W. O'Brien, Kevin V. Thomas, Jochen
F. Mueller. Urinary Concentrations of Bisphenols in the Australian
Population and Their Association with the Per Capita Mass Loads
in Wastewater. Environmental Science & Technology, 2020; DOI:
10.1021/acs.est.0c00921 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200729114834.htm

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