Phthalate exposure in pregnant women and the influence of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke

Background:Phthalates have been blended in various compositions as plasticizers worldwide for a variety of purposes, and there are more and more polymers in the packaging of tobacco. Methods:We investigated phthalate exposure in pregnant women to explore the influence of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). In 2013, a total of 620 pregnant women in 30 counties (district) of Zhejiang Province were selected by probability proportionate to size sampling method, and they were interviewed for the sociodemographic characteristic, lifestyle characteristics, and 77 of them were selected by random and agreed to provide a urine sample. GC/MS method was used to determine the concentration of phthalate in urine including DMP, DEP, DIBP, DBP, BMPP, DPP, DHXP, BBP, HEP, BNBP, DCHP, DEHP, DOP, DNP, MMP, MEP, MBP, MEHP, ans MBzP. The distribution characteristics of the levels of phthalate between pregnant women with or without exposure to ETS were described, and logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between the phthalate levels and influencing factors. Results:We found that there was significant difference between pregnant women with or without exposure to ETS on DIBP, DBP, DNP (Z = 2.192, 2.172, 2356;p = .028, .030, .018). In multifactors analysis, we found that higher level concentration of DIBP (OR= 3.895, 95% = 1.12-13.546), DBP (OR = 5.25, 95% = 1.4-19.692), DPP (OR = 16.5, 95% = 1.058-250.176), DNP (OR = 8.00, 95% = 1.85-34.604) were associated by exposure to ETS. Conclusions:Pregnant women with or without exposure to ETS were associated with urinary DIBP, DBP, DPP, and DNP. Exposure to ETS may increase the urinary phthalate levels among pregnant women.