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Intra- and inter-individual variability of urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations in Hmong women of reproductive age

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 20, pages 90–100 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

The reproducibility of urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations has not been well characterized in non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Our primary study objectives were to describe the distribution of urinary phthalate metabolites concentrations among a population of Hmong women of reproductive age, and to evaluate intra- and inter-individual variability of phthalate metabolite concentrations. Ten phthalate metabolites were measured in first-morning urine samples collected from 45 women and 20 of their spouses, who were members of the Fox River Environment and Diet Study cohort in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Repeated first-morning urine samples were collected and analyzed from 25 women, who provided up to three samples over ∼1 month. Measurement variability was assessed using intraclass correlations (ICCs) and surrogate category analysis. Linear mixed models were used to evaluate the associations between participant characteristics and phthalate metabolite concentrations. Nine of the 10 phthalate metabolites were detected in >80% of all analyzed samples, of which seven were detected in all samples. As a measure of reliability, ICCs were strongest for monobenzyl phthalate (0.64) and weakest for the metabolites of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) (ranging from 0.13 to 0.22). Similarly, surrogate category analysis suggested that a single urine sample characterized an average 1-month exposure with reasonable accuracy across low, medium and high tertiles for all metabolites, except the DEHP metabolites. Geometric mean concentrations of monoethyl phthalate increased with age, but patterns by education, income, body mass index, environmental tobacco smoke or season were not observed when measures were adjusted for urinary dilution. Our results suggest that the participant characteristics assessed in this study have limited influence on inter-individual variability of phthalate metabolite concentrations. With regard to intra-individual variability, our results suggest that urinary concentrations of some phthalate metabolites are more reproducible over time and are less subjected to exposure misclassification than others (e.g., metabolites of DEHP).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Jane Hoppin for sharing phthalate exposure assessment questionnaires for adaptation for this study. The authors would also like to thank Donna Gasior and the staff of the FRIENDS study for their data collection and data management efforts, and Ella Samandar, James Preau and John A. Reidy (CDC, Atlanta, GA) for technical assistance in measuring the concentrations of phthalate metabolites. This research was supported by Grants P30-ES09106 and ES011263 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, R82939001 from the US Environmental Protection Agency, TS000008 from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Women's Studies Program Women's Interdisciplinary Seed Grant funded by the Texas A&M University Office of the Vice President for Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Jennifer David Peck

  2. Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, The Commonwealth Medical College, Scranton, PA, USA,

    Anne M Sweeney

  3. Division of Epidemiology and Disease Control, University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, TX, USA

    Elane Symanski

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Joseph Gardiner

  5. Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Manori J Silva & Antonia M Calafat

  6. Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Susan L Schantz

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  1. Jennifer David Peck
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  4. Joseph Gardiner
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Correspondence to Jennifer David Peck.

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The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC.

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website (http://www.nature.com/jes)

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Peck, J., Sweeney, A., Symanski, E. et al. Intra- and inter-individual variability of urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations in Hmong women of reproductive age. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 20, 90–100 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2009.4

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