Variability of Urinary Concentrations of Phenols, Parabens, and Triclocarban during Pregnancy in First Morning Voids and Pooled Samples

• Authors: Hyeong-Moo Shin, University of Texas Arlington; Jiwon Oh, University of Texas Arlington; Kyunghoon Kim, Seoul National University of Science and Technology; Stefanie A Busgang, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Dana Barr, Emory University; Parinya Panuwet, Emory University; Rebecca J Schmidt, University of California Davis; Irva Hertz-Picciotto, University of California Davis; Deborah H Bennett, University of California Davis
• Journal Title: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
• Volume: Volume 55, Number 23
• Publisher: AMER CHEMICAL SOC | 2021-12-07, Pages 16001-16010
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c04140
• Subjects: Engineering, Environmental; Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Engineering, Environmental; Environmental Sciences; Engineering; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; biospecimens; exposure misclassification; pooling; reproducibility; sample type; BISPHENOL-A EXPOSURE; PRENATAL EXPOSURE; FETAL EXPOSURE; ENVIRONMENTAL PHENOLS; REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH; SPOT SAMPLES; PREDICTORS; WOMEN; ASSOCIATION; TRICLOSAN

Abstract

Urinary concentrations of phenols, parabens, and triclocarban have been extensively used as biomarkers of exposure. However, because these compounds are quickly metabolized and excreted in urine, characterizing participants’ long-term average exposure from a few spot samples is challenging. To examine the variability of urinary concentrations of these compounds during pregnancy, we quantified four phenols, four parabens, and triclocarban in 357 first morning voids (FMVs) and 203 pooled samples collected during the second and third trimesters of 173 pregnancies. We computed intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) by the sample type (FMV and pool) across two trimesters and by the number of composite samples in pools, ranging from 2 to 4, within the same trimester. Among the three compounds detected in more than 50% of the samples, the ICCs across two trimesters were higher in pools (0.29-0.68) than in FMVs (0.17-0.52) and the highest ICC within the same trimester was observed when pooling either two or three composites. Methyl paraben and propyl paraben primarily exposed via cosmetic use had approximately 2-3 times higher ICCs than bisphenol A primarily exposed via diet. Our findings support that within-subject pooling of biospecimens can increase the reproducibility of pregnant women’s exposure to these compounds and thus could potentially minimize exposure misclassification.