Archive for the ‘Plastics’ Category

Prenatal Phenol and Phthalate Exposures and Birth Outcomes

Monday, February 9th, 2009

Prenatal Phenol and Phthalate Exposures and Birth Outcomes

Mary S. Wolff,1 Stephanie M. Engel,1 Gertrud S. Berkowitz,1 Xiaoyun Ye,2 Manori J. Silva,2 Chenbo Zhu,1 James Wetmur,3 and Antonia M. Calafat2

1Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; 2National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 3Department of Microbiology and Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

Abstract
Background: Many phthalates and phenols are hormonally active and are suspected to alter the course of development.

Objective: We investigated prenatal exposures to phthalate and phenol metabolites and their associations with body size measures of the infants at birth.

Methods: We measured 5 phenol and 10 phthalate urinary metabolites in a multiethnic cohort of 404 women in New York City during their third trimester of pregnancy and recorded size of infants at birth.

Results: Median urinary concentrations were > 10 µg/L for 2 of 5 phenols and 6 of 10 phthalate monoester metabolites. Concentrations of low-molecular-weight phthalate monoesters (low-MWP) were approximately 5-fold greater than those of high-molecular-weight metabolites. Low-MWP metabolites had a positive association with gestational age [0.97 day gestational age per ln-biomarker ; 95% confidence interval (CI) , 0.07–1.9 days, multivariate adjusted] and with head circumference. Higher prenatal exposures to 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP) predicted lower birth weight in boys (–210 g average birth weight difference between the third tertile and first tertile of 2,5-DCP ; 95% CI, 71–348 g) . Higher maternal benzophenone-3 (BP3) concentrations were associated with a similar decrease in birth weight among girls but with greater birth weight in boys.

Conclusions: We observed a range of phthalate and phenol exposures during pregnancy in our population, but few were associated with birth size. The association of 2,5-DCP and BP3 with reduced or increased birth weight could be important in very early or small-size births. In addition, positive associations of urinary metabolites with some outcomes may be attributable partly to unresolved confounding with maternal anthropometric factors.

Key words: 2 , 5-DCP, birth length, birth weight, BMI , creatinine, phenols, phthalates, pregnancy, urinary biomarker. Environ Health Perspect 116:1092–1097 (2008) . doi:10.1289/ehp.11007 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 20 March 2008]

Full study free

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Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration With Medical Disorders and Laboratory Abnormalities in Adults

Friday, February 6th, 2009

Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration With Medical Disorders and Laboratory Abnormalities in Adults

Iain A. Lang, PhD; Tamara S. Galloway, PhD; Alan Scarlett, PhD; William E. Henley, PhD; Michael Depledge, PhD, DSc; Robert B. Wallace, MD; David Melzer, MB, PhD

JAMA. 2008;300(11):1303-1310. Published online September 16, 2008 (doi:10.1001/jama.300.11.1303).

ABSTRACT

Context Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in epoxy resins lining food and beverage containers. Evidence of effects in animals has generated concern over low-level chronic exposures in humans.

Objective To examine associations between urinary BPA concentrations and adult health status.

Design, Setting, and Participants Cross-sectional analysis of BPA concentrations and health status in the general adult population of the United States, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2004. Participants were 1455 adults aged 18 through 74 years with measured urinary BPA and urine creatinine concentrations. Regression models were adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, smoking, body mass index, waist circumference, and urinary creatinine concentration. The sample provided 80% power to detect unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 1.4 for diagnoses of 5% prevalence per 1-SD change in BPA concentration, or standardized regression coefficients of 0.075 for liver enzyme concentrations, at a significance level of P < .05.

Main Outcome Measures Chronic disease diagnoses plus blood markers of liver function, glucose homeostasis, inflammation, and lipid changes.

Results Higher urinary BPA concentrations were associated with cardiovascular diagnoses in age-, sex-, and fully adjusted models (OR per 1-SD increase in BPA concentration, 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-1.63; P = .001 with full adjustment). Higher BPA concentrations were also associated with diabetes (OR per 1-SD increase in BPA concentration, 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.21-1.60; P < .001) but not with other studied common diseases. In addition, higher BPA concentrations were associated with clinically abnormal concentrations of the liver enzymes -glutamyltransferase (OR per 1-SD increase in BPA concentration, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.14-1.46; P < .001) and alkaline phosphatase (OR per 1-SD increase in BPA concentration, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.18-1.85; P = .002).

Conclusion Higher BPA exposure, reflected in higher urinary concentrations of BPA, may be associated with avoidable morbidity in the community-dwelling adult population.

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Prenatal Phenol and Phthalate Exposures and Birth Outcomes

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Prenatal Phenol and Phthalate Exposures and Birth Outcomes

Mary S. Wolff,1 Stephanie M. Engel,1 Gertrud S. Berkowitz,1 Xiaoyun Ye,2 Manori J. Silva,2 Chenbo Zhu,1 James Wetmur,3 and Antonia M. Calafat2

1Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; 2National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 3Department of Microbiology and Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

Abstract
Background: Many phthalates and phenols are hormonally active and are suspected to alter the course of development.

Objective: We investigated prenatal exposures to phthalate and phenol metabolites and their associations with body size measures of the infants at birth.

Methods: We measured 5 phenol and 10 phthalate urinary metabolites in a multiethnic cohort of 404 women in New York City during their third trimester of pregnancy and recorded size of infants at birth.

Results: Median urinary concentrations were > 10 µg/L for 2 of 5 phenols and 6 of 10 phthalate monoester metabolites. Concentrations of low-molecular-weight phthalate monoesters (low-MWP) were approximately 5-fold greater than those of high-molecular-weight metabolites. Low-MWP metabolites had a positive association with gestational age [0.97 day gestational age per ln-biomarker ; 95% confidence interval (CI) , 0.07–1.9 days, multivariate adjusted] and with head circumference. Higher prenatal exposures to 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP) predicted lower birth weight in boys (–210 g average birth weight difference between the third tertile and first tertile of 2,5-DCP ; 95% CI, 71–348 g) . Higher maternal benzophenone-3 (BP3) concentrations were associated with a similar decrease in birth weight among girls but with greater birth weight in boys.

Conclusions: We observed a range of phthalate and phenol exposures during pregnancy in our population, but few were associated with birth size. The association of 2,5-DCP and BP3 with reduced or increased birth weight could be important in very early or small-size births. In addition, positive associations of urinary metabolites with some outcomes may be attributable partly to unresolved confounding with maternal anthropometric factors.

Key words: 2 , 5-DCP, birth length, birth weight, BMI , creatinine, phenols, phthalates, pregnancy, urinary biomarker. Environ Health Perspect 116:1092–1097 (2008) . doi:10.1289/ehp.11007 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 20 March 2008]

Full study free at http://www.ehponline.org/members/2008/11007/11007.html

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Effect of Probiotics, Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei, on Bisphenol A Exposure in Rats

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Effect of Probiotics, Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus casei, on Bisphenol A Exposure in Rats

Oishi K, Sato T, Yokoi W, Yoshida Y, Ito M, Sawada H.

Yakult Honsha European Research Center for Microbiology ESV.

Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2008 Jun 7

FULLTEXT:

Bisphenol A (BPA), a putative endocrine disruptor, may be taken up by humans via the diet and have adverse effects on human health. In this study, we evaluated whether the probiotics, Bifidobacterium breve strain Yakult (BbY) and Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LcS), could exert a protective effect against dietary exposure to BPA. A group of rats fed on a diet containing 5% BbY or 5% LcS showed three advantageous effects compared to the control group; (i) the area under the blood concentration-time curve of BPA after its oral administration was significantly decreased, (ii) the amount of BPA excreted in the feces was significantly greater (2.4 times), and (iii) the percentage of BPA bound to the sediment fraction of the feces was significantly higher. These results suggest that BbY and LcS reduced the intestinal absorption by facilitating the excretion of BPA, and that these probiotics may suppress the adverse effects of BPA on human health.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18540113?dopt=AbstractPlus

PMID: 18540113 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Plastics that May Be Harmful to Children and Reproductive Health

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

This Report on plasticizers makes some strong recommendation for abatement of risk. Dr. Mark Cullen of MCS fame is one of the authors. It’s well worth reading. Jennifer Armstrong, M.D., the president of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, sent it to us.

Larry Plumlee, M.D.

View Report at Environment and Human Health, Inc.

Summary
The plastics problem is growing in scale and complexity due to a collision of factors, including government neglect of the importance of endocrine disruption; the explosive growth of the U.S. and international plastics industry; the absence of any plastic ingredient and source labeling requirements; nearly complete recycling failure for PVC and polycarbonate plastics; environmental contamination of air, water, soils, oceans, fish and wildlife; nearly universal human exposure to BPA and DEHP from food and beverages in high income nations; the dependence of the plastics industry on petroleum; and government failure to require health and environmental testing prior to chemical production, sale, and disposal. Collectively, these pose a serious challenge to the environment and human health.

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Gain Access to Proceedings from the First International Conference on Biocides in Plastics: from Preservation to Hygiene Control

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Gain Access to Proceedings from the First International Conference on Biocides in Plastics: from Preservation to Hygiene Control

DUBLIN, Ireland–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Research and Markets

( http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c90744) has announced the addition of Biocides in Plastics – From Preservation to Hygiene Control to their offering.

Conference Proceedings, 2008

Proceedings from our New International Conference!

Brussels, Belgium, 26-27 February 2008

Current consumer demand for bacterial-resistant products, global concern over hospital acquired infections such as MRSA, and conditions such as the so-called “sick building syndrome” have done
much to promote the rise in biocides in plastics in recent years. As such biocides are now being increasingly used in materials such as PVC, PU, PE and WPC and in low -VOC water-based paints and coatings to prevent fungal and bacterial growth.

However impending environmental regulations both in Europe and abroad present major challenges for suppliers of biocides. The EU’s Biocidal Products Directive (BPD) and the flagship REACH chemicals policy – will force the rationalisation of many product lines, removing a large number of active ingredients from the market and requiring manufacturers to source replacement “green” actives.

It is critical now – perhaps more than ever – to formulate new biocidal blends. With this in mind Smithers Rapra developed the first international conference on Biocides in Plastics: From Preservation
to Hygiene Control.

The conference featured case studies from the likes of Arch Chemicals, PolyChem Alloy, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Sanitised and Thor Specialities as well as a regulatory update from the US EPA. Papers provided insight into many key developments and solutions to the key issues of the biocides sector.

These include:

Test methods for plastics: antifungal and antibacterial testing
The harmonization of regulation for biocides for treated articles
How to implement an antimicrobial hygiene concept for appliances
Modelling the end-use of plastic treated articles to support label claims

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c90744

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/ ?
ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080505005093&newsLang=en

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