Personal Care Product Use in Men and Urinary Concentrations of Select Phthalate Metabolites and Parabens: Results from the Environment And Reproductive Health (EARTH) Study

BACKGROUND: Personal care products (PCPs) are exposure sources to phthalates and parabens; however,their contribution to men's exposure is understudied. OBJECTIVES: We examined the association between PCP use and urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and parabens in men. METHODS: In a prospective cohort, at multiple study visits, men self-reported their use of 14 PCPs and provided a mine sample (2004-2015, Boston, MA). We measured urinary concentrations of 9 phthalate metabolites and methylparaben, propylparaben, and butylparaben. We estimated the covariate-adjusted percent change in urinary concentrations associated with PCP use using linear mixed and Tobit mixed regressions. We also estimated weights for each PCP in a weighted binary score regression and modeled the resulting composite weighted PCP use. RESULTS: Four hundred men contributed 1,037 urine samples (mean of 3/man). The largest percent increase in monoethyl phthalate (MEP) was associated with use of cologne/perfume (83%, p-value <0.01) and deodorant (74%, p-value <0.01). In contrast, the largest percent increase for parabens was associated with the use of suntan/sunblock lotion (66-156%) and hand/hody lotion (79-147%). Increases in MEP and parabens were generally greater with PCP use within 6 h of urine collection. A subset of 10 PCPs that were used within 6 h of urine collection contributed to at least 70% of the weighted score and predicted a 254-1,333% increase in MEP and parabens concentrations. Associations between PCP use and concentrations of the other phthalate metabolites were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: We identified 10 PCPs of relevance and demonstrated that heir use within 6 h of urine collection strongly predicted MEP and paraben urinary concentrations.