Work

The Environmental Exposome: Urinary Biomarkers and Asthma Morbidity in a School Inner City Asthma Study

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: TPS 711: The exposome, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 26, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background/Aim: To determine whether urinary environmental chemical biomarkers are associated with asthma morbidity. Methods: This study includes 151 children with physician-diagnosed asthma who participated in the School Inner-City Asthma Intervention Study. Urinary metabolites of phenol, paraben, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and phthalate analytes were analyzed from samples collected at the baseline visit. Asthma symptom days over the past 2 weeks were dichotomized to no asthma symptom days or any asthma symptom days. Cross-sectional logistic regression models were adjusted for sex, age, colds, household income, prescription control, race, BMI percentile, smoke exposure and specific gravity. Weighted quantile sum regression was used to analyze each chemical class as well as a total mixture effect, controlling for the same covariates. The analyses for this study were conducted with the assistance of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Children’s Health Exposure Analysis Resource. Results: The population is mostly Hispanic/Latino and low income. The average age was 7.9 years and the average (standard deviation) maximum asthma symptom days over the past 2 weeks were 2.1(3.6). The maximum concentrations indicate extreme values for several chemicals, including benzophenone-3, 2,5-dichlorophenol, propyl and methyl parabens, triclosan, and cotinine. In WQS models, a significant interaction effect for allergen sensitivity was observed; relative contributions of analytes differed between children with and without allergen sensitivity. When biomarker concentrations were deciled, only methyl paraben had borderline significant OR of having any asthma symptoms days compared to having no asthma symptom days for a one natural log unit change in analyte concentration after a Holm-Bonferroni correction. (OR 0.79; 95% CI (0.64-0.97); p=0.03; holm Bonferroni p-value 0.09). Conclusion: Among a population of inner-city children with asthma, a preliminary cross-sectional negative association of methylparaben and asthma symptoms may be attributed to personal care use; follow-up of this cohort will allow for a longitudinal investigation of this association.

Source: Environmental Epidemiology

DOI: 10.1097/01.ee9.0000607464.39517.7f