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The extensive use of bisphenol A (BPA) in the manufacture of consumer products results in widespread human exposure to the chemical. In the body, BPA undergoes first-pass metabolism to form BPA glucuronide, considered to be a major BPA byproduct. Concentrations of total (free plus conjugated) urinary species of BPA are used to assess human exposure to BPA. However, because BPA can be present in numerous consumer and household products, potential contamination with parent BPA during collection and handling may pose a challenge when measuring BPA in such biological samples as blood or urine. In this study we investigated the in-vitro phase I metabolism of BPA in rat and human liver microsomes by using on-line solid-phase extraction-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to identify phase I metabolites (e.g., BPA oxidation products) that could be used as potential alternative biomarkers of BPA exposure. We unambiguously identified 5-hydroxy BPA (BPA catechol) as an in-vitro oxidative metabolite of BPA, but human microsomes oxidized only about 10% of BPA to BPA catechol. We evaluated the usefulness of BPA catechol as a potential biomarker of human exposure to BPA by measuring total concentrations of BPA catechol and BPA in 20 urine samples. We detected BPA catechol at much lower concentrations and frequency than those of BPA. Furthermore, we found that free BPA catechol was rather unstable in urine, which highlights the importance of sampling techniques to adequate interpretation of biomonitoring data. Together, these findings suggest that BPA catechol may not be a suitable biomarker of environmental exposure to BPA, but could be used to confirm BPA exposure in special populations or in situations when urine specimens were potentially contaminated with BPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The free and conjugated urinary species of non-persistent environmental chemicals or their breakdown products are valid human exposure biomarkers. For convenience, disposable diapers and other absorbent materials are widely used to collect urine specimens from infants and young toddlers. However, the extent to which the different urinary species of the target analytes and other components are recovered after the urine is extracted from these absorbent materials is unknown. In this proof-of-concept study, we investigated the extraction recovery from disposable diapers, cotton pads, and gauzes of the free versus glucuronidated urinary species of three example chemicals: bisphenol A, triclosan, and 4-methylumbelliferone. Although the glucuronides were almost fully recovered, the free species were not. Our results suggest that, in addition to other sampling considerations, the binding affinity and extraction recovery of the target biomarkers to the material used to collect the urine should be considered. Alternative collection approaches that do not require such an extraction (e.g., urine bags routinely used in hospitals) may be worth exploring. Despite its shortcomings, having urinary concentrations for biomonitoring considerably strengthens the exposure assessment, particularly for infants and young toddlers, and the benefits of including biomonitoring data outweigh their potential limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, about 25% of infant formula sold is based on soy protein, which is an important source of estrogenic isoflavones in the human food supply. Nevertheless, few studies report isoflavone levels in infants. We did a partly cross-sectional and partly longitudinal pilot study to examine children's exposure to isoflavones from different feeding methods. A total of 166 full-term infants between birth and 1 year of age were recruited into soy formula, cow milk formula, or breast milk regimens according to their feeding histories. A total of 381 urine, 361 saliva, and 88 blood samples were collected at 382 visits. We used automated online solid-phase extraction coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS) for measuring three isoflavones (daidzein, genistein, and equol) in urine, and used similar LC/MS/MS techniques for saliva and blood spots. Concentrations of daidzein and genistein were undetectable in most blood or saliva samples from children fed breast milk or cow milk formula. The proportion of non-detectable values was somewhat lower in urine than in the other matrices. Concentrations of equol were detectable only in a few urine samples. For both daidzein and genistein, urine contained the highest median concentrations, followed by blood and then saliva. Urinary concentrations of genistein and daidzein were about 500 times higher in the soy formula-fed infants than in the cow milk formula-fed infants. The correlations between matrices for either analyte were strikingly lower than the correlation between the two analytes in any single matrix. We did not find significant correlations between isoflavone concentrations and the levels of certain hormones in children fed soy formula. Our results, based on much larger numbers of infants, strongly confirm previous reports, but whether phytoestrogens in soy formula are biologically active in infants is still an open question. We plan further longitudinal studies focusing on physical and developmental findings reflecting the effects of estrogen exposure.Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (2009) 19, 223–234; doi:10.1038/jes.2008.44; published online 30 July 2008 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urinary concentrations of phenols or their metabolites have been used as biomarkers to assess the prevalence of exposure to these compounds in the general population. Total urinary concentrations, which include both free and conjugated (glucuronide and sulfated) forms of the compounds, are usually reported. From a toxicologic standpoint, the relative concentrations of the free species compared with their conjugated analogs can be important because conjugation may reduce the potential biologic activity of the phenols. In this study, we determined the percentage of glucuronide and sulfate conjugates of three phenolic compounds, bisphenol A (BPA), 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP), and 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (benzophenone-3, BP-3) in 30 urine samples collected between 2000 and 2004 from a demographically diverse group of anonymous adult volunteers. We used a sensitive on-line solid phase extraction–isotope dilution–high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method. These three phenols were detected frequently in the urine samples tested. Only small percentages of the compounds (9.5% for BPA, and 3% for 2,5-DCP and BP-3) were excreted in their free form. The percentage of the sulfate conjugate was about twice that of the free compound. The glucuronide conjugate was the major metabolite, representing 69.5% (BPA), 89% (2,5-DCP), and 84.6% (BP-3) of the total amount excreted in urine. These results are in agreement with those reported before which suggested that BPA-glucuronide was an important BPA urinary metabolite in humans. To our knowledge, this is the first study describing the distribution of urinary conjugates of BP-3 and 2,5-DCP in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]