Evidence of high di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) exposure due to tainted food intake in Taiwanese pregnant women and the health effects on birth outcomes

Yen-An Tsai; Ming-Song Tsai; Jia-Woei Hou; Ching-Ling Lin; Chih-Yao Chen; Chia-Huang Chang; Kai-Wei Liao; Shu-Li Wang; Bai-Hsiun Chen; Ming-Tsang Wu; Chia-Jung Hsieh; Mei-Lien Chen; TMICs Group

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.175

Evidence of high di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) exposure due to tainted food intake in Taiwanese pregnant women and the health effects on birth outcomes

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Mar 15:618:635-644. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.175. Epub 2017 Oct 19.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ School of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Pediatrics, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ School of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ Division of Obstetrics and High Risk Pregnancy, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Research Center for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Center of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Public Health, Tzu-Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: mlchen@ym.edu.tw.

PMID: 29055577
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.175

Abstract

The contamination of a clouding agent with di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a substitute emulsifier-containing compound used in a variety of foods was announced on May 23, 2011. The aims of this study were as follows (1) compare the urine phthalates (PAE) metabolites concentration and estimate the daily intake (DI) of PAEs in pregnant women before and after the tainted food scandal and (2) examine the effect of relatively high PAEs exposure on birth outcome. One-hundred twelve pregnant women in Northern Taiwan participated in this study from March to December 2010, i.e., before the tainted food scandal. After the tainted food scandal, we collected 69, 73, and 180 urine specimens (January 2013 to August 2014) from women whom were in their first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy, respectively. We measure urinary DEHP metabolite concentrations to estimate the DI of DEHP and the hazard quotient (HQ) of subjects. This was the first study to assess the effects of DEHP-tainted food scandal exposure in pregnant women across the three trimesters of pregnancy. After the tainted food report, the concentrations of urine PAE metabolite were significantly decreased, especially those of DEHP metabolites. Based on different reference limit values, the percentages of pregnant women whose HQ_DEHP value exceeded the limit ranged from 0.53% to 8.93%. Despite this low frequency, the higher ΣPAE exposure during the second trimester may significantly increase the risk of relatively low birth height compared to the lower exposure group (β=-0.63 (-1.20 to -0.06)). Our results support the hypothesis that exposure to relatively high concentrations of DEHP in pregnant Taiwanese women may have an adverse effect on birth outcomes. The percentage of subjects whose exposure level exceeded the exposure limit was low; however, high PAEs exposure appears to be significantly associated with birth outcomes. Therefore, we suggest that reference dose for PAEs should be revised.

Keywords: Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate; Food scandal; Infant; Prenatal exposure.

MeSH terms

Adult
Dietary Exposure*
Diethylhexyl Phthalate / analysis*
Female
Food Contamination*
Humans
Phthalic Acids / urine*
Pregnancy
Taiwan

Substances

Phthalic Acids
Diethylhexyl Phthalate