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Phthalate exposure and high blood pressure in adults: a cross-sectional study in China

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Abstract

Widespread phthalate exposure has been recently documented and is hypothesized to increase blood pressure (BP) in humans. However, current studies have provided inconclusive evidence for an association between phthalate exposure and BP. Human epidemiologic studies on the topic remain lacking. Therefore, this study aims to examine the association between serum phthalate concentrations and BP in a Chinese population. We measured several parameters of BP (systolic BP, diastolic BP, total cholesterol, and triglyceride) and the concentrations of 16 phthalates (dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), bis (2-methoxyethyl) phthalate, bis (4-methyl-2-pentyl) phthalate, bis (2-ethoxyethyl) phthalate, diamyl phthalate, dihexyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate, bis (2-nbutoxyethyl) phthalate (DBEP), dicyclohexyl phthalate, bis (2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate, diphenyl phthalate, and di-n-octyl phthalate) in the serum of 474 adults recruited from a primary health care clinic. The relationship between serum phthalate concentrations and BP parameters was assessed with multivariate linear regressions. DBP was the most ubiquitous and dominant contaminant in the study population. The systolic BP of subjects in the median-exposure DEHP group significantly increased by 2.96 mmHg (p < 0.05) relative to that of subjects in the low-exposure group. Significant positive dose-related associations of DMP and DBEP with the levels of total cholesterol in serum (p for trend < 0.05) were also found. These associations persisted even when considering exposure to multiple phthalates. Our results suggested that phthalate exposure might increase BP in adults. However, our findings warrant further studies in a larger and more general population.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank all the participants of this study for providing the blood samples.

Funding

This study was supported by funding from the key Technologies R&D Program of Hebei Province (14277709D).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experiment Center, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China

    Shao-hui Zhang, Tong-tong Fan & Ning Wei

  2. Department of basic surgery, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China

    Ya-xin Shen

  3. Department of Pain Medicine, the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China

    Lin Li

  4. Department of Endocrinology, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China

    Yan Wang

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  1. Shao-hui Zhang
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  2. Ya-xin Shen
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  4. Tong-tong Fan
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  5. Yan Wang
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  6. Ning Wei
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Correspondence to Ning Wei.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Zhang, Sh., Shen, Yx., Li, L. et al. Phthalate exposure and high blood pressure in adults: a cross-sectional study in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 15934–15942 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1845-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1845-1

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