Urinary Concentrations of BPA and Analogous Bisphenols (BPF and BPS) among School Children from Poland: Exposure and Risk Assessment in the REPRO_PL Cohort

Abstract

AbstractBisphenols are a group of chemical compounds widely used in the industry, e.g., in the production of plastics, and as precursor of epoxy resins. The three bisphenols investigated in this study, namely bisphenols A (BPA), F (BPF) and S (BPS), seem to have endocrine activity in the same order of magnitude. Thus, an exposure and risk assessment was performed based on urinary concentrations of these bisphenols in 150 urine samples of 7-year-old children from the Polish Mother and Child Cohort Study (REPRO_PL). Samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography with online sample clean-up coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (online-SPE-LC-MS/MS). BPA, BPF, and BPS were above the LOQ (0.25 µg/L) in 100%, 95%, and 20% of the samples, respectively, with median concentrations of 2.5 µg/L, 1.0 µg/L and < 0.25 µg/L (below the LOQ), respectively. Median Daily Intakes (DIs) were calculated: 45.9 ng/kg bw/day for BPA, at maximum 33.1 ng/kg bw/day for BPF (depending on the urinary excretion fractions used for calculation) and below 4.4 ng/kg bw/day for BPS (calculated at LOQ/2). Hazard quotients (HQ) at the 95th percentile of 0.011 for BPF and 0.63 for BPS did not indicate health risks. However, based on the TDI of 0.2 ng/kg bw/day newly established by EFSA, the HQ for BPA was above 1 in 100% of the samples, thus indicating the exceedance of safe exposure levels. No statistically significant associations were found between bisphenol concentrations and socio-demographic and life-style characteristics, although environmental tobacco smoke at 7 years of age, maternal educational level and socio-economic status showed a positive trend. Further studies are required in order to recognize other BPA replacement exposures among children.