Phthalate Metabolites in Urine of Chinese Children and Their Association with Asthma and Allergic Symptoms

Abstract

Phthalates are ubiquitous ‘modern’ chemical compounds with potential negative impacts on children’s health. A nested case–control study was designed to investigate associations of phthalate exposure with children’s asthma and allergic symptoms. We collected 243 first morning urine samples from 4–8-year-old children in Tianjin, China. Eight metabolites (i.e., mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-isobutyl phthalate (MiBP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP) and mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-carboxylpentyl) phthalate (MECPP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) and mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP)) of five phthalates were analyzed using HPLC-MS. MiBP, MnBP and MECPP were the dominant phthalate metabolites in urine of children in Tianjin with median concentrations of 31.6 μg/L, 26.24 μg/L and 46.12 μg/L, respectively. We found significantly positive associations of diagnosed asthma with MnBP (adjusted odds ratios (AOR): 1.96; 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 1.07–3.61), MEHHP (AOR: 2.00; 95% CI: 1.08–3.71) and MEOHP (AOR: 2.09; 95% CI: 1.06–4.10). Our study indicates that phthalate exposure in childhood, especially to di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), may be a risk factor for children’s asthma.