TY - JOUR

T1 - Personal Care Product Use in Men and Urinary Concentrations of Select Phthalate Metabolites and Parabens

T2 - Results from the Environment And Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study

AU - Nassan, Feiby L

AU - Coull, Brent A

AU - Gaskins, Audrey J

AU - Williams, Michelle A

AU - Skakkebaek, Niels E

AU - Ford, Jennifer B

AU - Ye, Xiaoyun

AU - Calafat, Antonia M

AU - Braun, Joseph M

AU - Hauser, Russ

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - BACKGROUND: Personal care products (PCPs) are exposure sources to phthalates and parabens; however, their contribution to men's exposure is understudied.OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between PCP use and urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and parabens in men.METHODS: In a prospective cohort, at multiple study visits, men self-reported their use of 14 PCPs and provided a urine sample (2004-2015, Boston, MA). We measured urinary concentrations of 9 phthalate metabolites and methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. We estimated the covariate-adjusted percent change in urinary concentrations associated with PCP use using linear mixed and Tobit mixed regressions. We also estimated weights for each PCP in a weighted binary score regression and modeled the resulting composite weighted PCP use.RESULTS: Four hundred men contributed 1,037 urine samples (mean of 3/man). The largest percent increase in monoethyl phthalate (MEP) was associated with use of cologne/perfume (83%, p-value<0.01) and deodorant (74%, p-value<0.01). In contrast, the largest percent increase for parabens was associated with the use of suntan/sunblock lotion (66-156%) and hand/body lotion (79-147%). Increases in MEP and parabens were generally greater with PCP use within 6 h of urine collection. A subset of 10 PCPs that were used within 6 h of urine collection contributed to at least 70% of the weighted score and predicted a 254-1,333% increase in MEP and parabens concentrations. Associations between PCP use and concentrations of the other phthalate metabolites were not statistically significant.CONCLUSIONS: We identified 10 PCPs of relevance and demonstrated that their use within 6 h of urine collection strongly predicted MEP and paraben urinary concentrations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1374.

AB - BACKGROUND: Personal care products (PCPs) are exposure sources to phthalates and parabens; however, their contribution to men's exposure is understudied.OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between PCP use and urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and parabens in men.METHODS: In a prospective cohort, at multiple study visits, men self-reported their use of 14 PCPs and provided a urine sample (2004-2015, Boston, MA). We measured urinary concentrations of 9 phthalate metabolites and methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. We estimated the covariate-adjusted percent change in urinary concentrations associated with PCP use using linear mixed and Tobit mixed regressions. We also estimated weights for each PCP in a weighted binary score regression and modeled the resulting composite weighted PCP use.RESULTS: Four hundred men contributed 1,037 urine samples (mean of 3/man). The largest percent increase in monoethyl phthalate (MEP) was associated with use of cologne/perfume (83%, p-value<0.01) and deodorant (74%, p-value<0.01). In contrast, the largest percent increase for parabens was associated with the use of suntan/sunblock lotion (66-156%) and hand/body lotion (79-147%). Increases in MEP and parabens were generally greater with PCP use within 6 h of urine collection. A subset of 10 PCPs that were used within 6 h of urine collection contributed to at least 70% of the weighted score and predicted a 254-1,333% increase in MEP and parabens concentrations. Associations between PCP use and concentrations of the other phthalate metabolites were not statistically significant.CONCLUSIONS: We identified 10 PCPs of relevance and demonstrated that their use within 6 h of urine collection strongly predicted MEP and paraben urinary concentrations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1374.

KW - Adult

KW - Cosmetics

KW - Environmental Exposure/statistics & numerical data

KW - Hazardous Substances/urine

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Parabens/metabolism

KW - Phthalic Acids/urine

U2 - 10.1289/EHP1374

DO - 10.1289/EHP1374

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28886595

VL - 125

JO - Environmental Health Perspectives

JF - Environmental Health Perspectives

SN - 0091-6765

IS - 8

M1 - 087012

ER -