First Insight into Fetal Exposure to Legacy and Emerging Plasticizers Revealed by Infant Hair and Meconium: Occurrence, Biotransformation, and Accumulation

作者：Fengshan Cai, Bin Tang, Jing Zheng, Xiao Yan, Xiaofan Ding, Qilong Liao, Xiao‐Jun Luo, Mingzhong Ren, Yunjiang Yu, Bixian Mai · 发表于：Environmental Science & Technology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1021/acs.est.3c11032 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals、Health, Environment, Cognitive Aging、Microplastics and Plastic Pollution

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated the embryonic and developmental toxicity of plasticizers. Thus, understanding the in utero biotransformation and accumulation of plasticizers is essential to assessing their fate and potential toxicity in early life. In the present study, 311 infant hair samples and 271 paired meconium samples were collected at birth in Guangzhou, China, to characterize fetal exposure to legacy and emerging plasticizers and their metabolites. Results showed that most of the target plasticizers were detected in infant hair, with medians of 9.30, 27.6, and 0.145 ng/g for phthalate esters (PAEs), organic phosphate ester (OPEs), and alternative plasticizers (APs), and 1.44, 0.313, and 0.066 ng/g for the metabolites of PAEs, OPEs, and APs, respectively. Positive correlations between plasticizers and their corresponding primary metabolites, as well as correlations among the oxidative metabolites of bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and 1,2-cyclohexane dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester (DINCH), were observed, indicating that infant hair retained the major phase-I metabolism of the target plasticizers. While no positive correlations were found in parent compounds or their primary metabolites between paired infant hair and meconium, significant positive correlations were observed among secondary oxidative metabolites of DEHP and DINCH in hair and meconium, suggesting that the primary metabolites in meconium come from hydrolysis of plasticizers in the fetus b...