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Exposure of Swedish adolescents to elements, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and rapidly excreted substances – The Riksmaten adolescents 2016-17 national survey

Pineda, Sebastian ; Lignell, Sanna ; Gyllenhammar, Irina ; Lampa, Erik ; Benskin, Jonathan P. ; Lundh, Thomas LU ; Lindh, Christian LU orcid ; Kiviranta, Hannu and Glynn, Anders (2023) In International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 251.
Abstract

Adolescence is a period of significant physiological changes, and likely a sensitive window to chemical exposure. Few nation-wide population-based studies of chemical body burdens in adolescents have been published. In the national dietary survey Riksmaten Adolescents (RMA) 2016–17, over 13 chemical substance groups, including elements, chlorinated/brominated/fluorinated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were analysed in blood, and in urine metabolites of phthalates/phthalate alternatives, phosphorous flame retardants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides, along with bisphenols and biocide/preservative/antioxidant/UV filter substances (N = 1082, ages 11–21). The aim was to characterize the body burdens in a... (More)

Adolescence is a period of significant physiological changes, and likely a sensitive window to chemical exposure. Few nation-wide population-based studies of chemical body burdens in adolescents have been published. In the national dietary survey Riksmaten Adolescents (RMA) 2016–17, over 13 chemical substance groups, including elements, chlorinated/brominated/fluorinated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were analysed in blood, and in urine metabolites of phthalates/phthalate alternatives, phosphorous flame retardants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides, along with bisphenols and biocide/preservative/antioxidant/UV filter substances (N = 1082, ages 11–21). The aim was to characterize the body burdens in a representative population of adolescents in Sweden, and to compare results with human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs). Cluster analyses and Spearman's rank order correlations suggested that concentrations of substances with known common exposure sources and similar toxicokinetics formed obvious clusters and showed moderate to very strong correlations (r ≥ 0.4). No clusters were formed between substances from different matrices. Geometric mean (GM) concentrations of the substances were generally less than 3-fold different from those observed among adolescents in NHANES (USA 2015–16) and GerES V (Germany 2014–17). Notable exceptions were brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) with >20-fold lower GM concentrations, and the biocide triclosan and ultraviolet (UV) filter benzophenone-3 with >15-fold lower mean concentrations in RMA compared to NHANES. Exceedance of the most conservative HBM-GVs were observed for aluminium (Al, 26% of subjects), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS, 19%), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, 12%), lead (Pb, 12%), MBP (dibutyl phthalate metabolite, 4.8%), hexachlorobenzene (HCB, 3.1%) and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (PBA, pyrethroid metabolite, 2.2%). Males showed a higher proportion of exceedances than females for Pb, HCB and PFOS; otherwise no gender-related differences in exceedances were observed. A higher proportion of males than females had a Hazard Index (HI) of substances with liver and kidney toxicity and neurotoxicity >1. Industrialized countries with similarly high standards of living, with some exceptions, show comparable average body burdens of a variety of toxic chemicals among adolescents from the general population. The exceedances of HBM-GVs and HIs strongly suggests that further efforts to limit chemical exposure are warranted.

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organization
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Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Adolescents, Biomonitoring, Chemical mixtures, Hazard index, Neurotoxic, Pollutants
in
International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
volume
251
article number
114196
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:37279611
  • scopus:85163330126
ISSN
1438-4639
DOI
10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114196
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d25f8f9e-0f26-4fd0-9251-59657873cc3c
date added to LUP
2023-09-15 13:43:25
date last changed
2024-04-19 01:58:12
@article{d25f8f9e-0f26-4fd0-9251-59657873cc3c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Adolescence is a period of significant physiological changes, and likely a sensitive window to chemical exposure. Few nation-wide population-based studies of chemical body burdens in adolescents have been published. In the national dietary survey Riksmaten Adolescents (RMA) 2016–17, over 13 chemical substance groups, including elements, chlorinated/brominated/fluorinated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were analysed in blood, and in urine metabolites of phthalates/phthalate alternatives, phosphorous flame retardants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides, along with bisphenols and biocide/preservative/antioxidant/UV filter substances (N = 1082, ages 11–21). The aim was to characterize the body burdens in a representative population of adolescents in Sweden, and to compare results with human biomonitoring guidance values (HBM-GVs). Cluster analyses and Spearman's rank order correlations suggested that concentrations of substances with known common exposure sources and similar toxicokinetics formed obvious clusters and showed moderate to very strong correlations (r ≥ 0.4). No clusters were formed between substances from different matrices. Geometric mean (GM) concentrations of the substances were generally less than 3-fold different from those observed among adolescents in NHANES (USA 2015–16) and GerES V (Germany 2014–17). Notable exceptions were brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) with &gt;20-fold lower GM concentrations, and the biocide triclosan and ultraviolet (UV) filter benzophenone-3 with &gt;15-fold lower mean concentrations in RMA compared to NHANES. Exceedance of the most conservative HBM-GVs were observed for aluminium (Al, 26% of subjects), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS, 19%), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, 12%), lead (Pb, 12%), MBP (dibutyl phthalate metabolite, 4.8%), hexachlorobenzene (HCB, 3.1%) and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (PBA, pyrethroid metabolite, 2.2%). Males showed a higher proportion of exceedances than females for Pb, HCB and PFOS; otherwise no gender-related differences in exceedances were observed. A higher proportion of males than females had a Hazard Index (HI) of substances with liver and kidney toxicity and neurotoxicity &gt;1. Industrialized countries with similarly high standards of living, with some exceptions, show comparable average body burdens of a variety of toxic chemicals among adolescents from the general population. The exceedances of HBM-GVs and HIs strongly suggests that further efforts to limit chemical exposure are warranted.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pineda, Sebastian and Lignell, Sanna and Gyllenhammar, Irina and Lampa, Erik and Benskin, Jonathan P. and Lundh, Thomas and Lindh, Christian and Kiviranta, Hannu and Glynn, Anders}},
  issn         = {{1438-4639}},
  keywords     = {{Adolescents; Biomonitoring; Chemical mixtures; Hazard index; Neurotoxic; Pollutants}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health}},
  title        = {{Exposure of Swedish adolescents to elements, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and rapidly excreted substances – The Riksmaten adolescents 2016-17 national survey}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114196}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114196}},
  volume       = {{251}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}