Objectives: Concerns over dietary exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor, have been raised because BPA is contained in resins and plastics commonly used for the preservation of food and beverages. The purpose of the present study was to assess daily intake levels of BPA in a group of male subjects by measuring total urinary BPA (free BPA plus BPA released by treatment with β-glucuronidase), as well as determining intra-individual variation in BPA excretion.
Methods: Twenty-four-hour urine was collected from 5 subjects for 5 consecutive days for the evaluation of between-day variation in urinary BPA excretion and from 36 male subjects for the estimation of the level of daily BPA intake. BPA in the urine samples was measured by GC/MS/MS following enzymatic hydrolysis of BPA glucuronate, solid phase extraction, and derivatization.
Results: A large between-day variation was found over 5 days for the daily excretion of urinary BPA in the 5 subjects. The daily excretion of urinary BPA was distributed log-normally in the 36 male subjects, with the median value being 1.2 μg/day (range: <0.21-14 μg/day), which was far below the Tolerable Daily Intake (0.01 mg/kg bw) recommended by a scientific committee in the European Commission in 2002. However, the maximum estimated intake per body weight (0.2 μg/kg/day) was only one order of magnitude lower than the reported lowest level for reproductive/behavioral effects in pregnant mice (2 μg/kg/day).
Conclusions: Measuring urinary BPA in urine is a suitable approach for estimating short-term BPA intake levels in individuals and/or estimating the average exposure level of populations. Urine analyses will be increasingly important in the human health risk assessment of BPA.
Keywords: bisphenol A, 24-h urine; daily excretion level; daily intake; intra-individual variation.