title: Maternal and early life exposure to phthalates: The Plastics and Personal-care Products use in Pregnancy (P4) study.
abstract: Phthalates are a group of chemicals found in a number of consumer products; some of these phthalates have been shown to possess estrogenic activity and display anti-androgenic effects. While a number of biomonitoring studies of phthalates in pregnant women and infants have been published, there is a paucity of data based on both multiple sampling periods and in different matrices. Phthalate metabolites were measured in 80 pregnant women and their infants in Ottawa Canada (2009-2010) in urine, meconium and breast milk collected at various time periods pre- and post-parturition. At least 50% of the women had at least one urine sample greater than the limit of detection (LOD) for the various phthalate metabolites, with the exception of mono-n-octyl phthalate (MnOP), mono-isononyl phthalate (MiNP) and mono(carboxy-isooctyl) phthalate (MCiOP). Four major clusters of maternal urinary metabolites were identified. Among infants (n=61), the following metabolites were rarely (< 10%) detected: mono-cyclohexyl phthalate (MCHP), mono-isononyl phthalate (MiNP), mono-methyl phthalate (MMP), and mono-n-octyl phthalate (MnOP). While mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP), mono-3-carboxypropyl phthalate (MCPP), MEHHP, and MEOHP were frequently detected in maternal urines at any time point, these metabolites were rarely detected in breast milk. Maternal urinary concentrations of MEP and the DEHP metabolites were higher in samples collected during pregnancy than postnatally. No statistically significant differences were observed in infant's urinary phthalate concentrations between breast-fed and bottle-fed infants. Significant correlations were observed between maternal urinary MEHHP (r=0.35), MEOHP (r=0.35) and MEP (r=0.37) collected at <20weeks gestation with levels in meconium and between MBzP (r=0.78) and MEP (r=0.56) in maternal and infant urine collected 2-3months after birth. These results suggest at least some maternal-fetal-infant transfer of phthalates and that meconium may be a useful matrix for measuring in utero exposure to phthalates.
authors.affiliation: Population Studies Division, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Electronic address: Tye.Arbuckle@hc-sc.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Tye E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Arbuckle
authors.affiliation: Population Studies Division, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Mandy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Population Studies Division, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: MacPherson
authors.affiliation: Population Studies Division, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Carly
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Centre de toxicologie du Québec (CTQ), Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Provencher
authors.affiliation: Centre de toxicologie du Québec (CTQ), Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: LeBlanc
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Russ
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Chemical Safety, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feeley
authors.affiliation: Centre de toxicologie du Québec (CTQ), Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Québec, QC, Canada; Axe Santé des populations et pratiques optimales en santé, Centre de recherche du CHU Québec, Québec, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ayotte
authors.affiliation: Population Studies Division, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Angelica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neisa
authors.affiliation: Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ramsay
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Perinatal Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tawagi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D003358:Cosmetics; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D010969:Plastics; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010795:Phthalic Acids; D010969:Plastics; C032279:phthalic acid
keywords: Breast milk; Infant; Meconium; Metabolites; Pregnancy; Urine