Placental transfer of bisphenol diglycidyl ethers (BDGEs) and its association with maternal health in a population in South of China

Bo Zhang; Henglin Zhang; Xueyuan Bai; Tao Zhang; Jingchuan Xue; Shaoyou Lu; Kurunthachalam Kannan

doi:10.1016/j.eehl.2022.11.004

Placental transfer of bisphenol diglycidyl ethers (BDGEs) and its association with maternal health in a population in South of China

Eco Environ Health. 2022 Nov 30;1(4):244-250. doi: 10.1016/j.eehl.2022.11.004. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Bo Zhang¹, Henglin Zhang¹, Xueyuan Bai², Tao Zhang¹, Jingchuan Xue³, Shaoyou Lu⁴, Kurunthachalam Kannan⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
² South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, Guangzhou 510655, China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Quality Improvement and Ecological Restoration for Watersheds, Institute of Environmental and Ecological Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
⁴ School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, New York NY10016, USA.

Abstract

Despite high production and usage, little is known about exposure to bisphenol diglycidyl ethers (BDGEs) and their derivatives in pregnant women and fetuses. In this study, we determined nine BDGEs in 106 paired maternal and cord serum samples collected from e-waste dismantling sites in South of China. Bisphenol A bis (2,3-dihydroxypropyl) glycidyl ether (BADGE·2H₂O), bisphenol A (3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl) (2,3-dihydroxypropyl) glycidyl ether (BADGE·HCl·H₂O), and bisphenol F diglycidyl ether (BFDGE) were the major BDGEs, with median concentrations of 0.57, 4.07, and 1.60 ng/mL, respectively, in maternal serum, and of 3.58, 5.61, and 0.61 ng/mL, respectively, in cord serum. The transplacental transfer efficiencies (TTEs) were estimated for BDGEs found in samples, and median values were in the range of 0.98 (BFDGE) to 5.91 (BADGE·2H₂O). Our results suggested that passive diffusion plays a role in the placental transfer of BADGE·HCl·H₂O and BFDGE, whereas several mechanisms contribute to the high accumulation of BADGE·2H₂O in cord serum. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated significant associations between maternal serum concentrations of BDGEs and blood clinical biomarkers, especially those related to liver injuries, such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and adenosine deaminase (ADA) (P < 0.05). To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the occurrence of BDGEs in paired maternal-fetal serum samples and provide new insights into prenatal and fetal exposures. The newly discovered TTEs in maternal-fetal pairs contribute to a fuller inventory of the transmission activity of pollutants in the human body, ultimately adding to a more significant comprehensive risk evaluation.

Keywords: Bisphenol diglycidyl ethers; Exposure; Maternal–fetal pairs; Transplacental transfer.