TOPLINE:
, bis(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (BCEP) being the main contributor.
METHODOLOGY:
- Prior studies have reported that OPEs — used in building materials, electronic products, furniture, and textiles — may interfere with thyroid function, hinting at a possible association of OPEs with thyroid disease.
- Researchers assessed the association between OPE exposure and the risk for thyroid disease using data from the 2011-2014 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycle.
- They included 2449 participants (mean age, 46 years; half of whom were women) who had complete values for seven OPE metabolites through urinalysis and completed questionnaires regarding the presence of thyroid disease.
- The seven OPE metabolites assessed in this study were diphenyl phosphate (DPHP), bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate, bis(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate, BCEP, dibutyl phosphate, dibenzyl phosphate, and 2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoic acid.
- Several mixed exposure models were used to investigate the associations between the risk for thyroid disease and exposure to individual and mixed OPEs.
TAKEAWAY:
- A history of thyroid disease was self-reported by 228 participants.
- In one model, the risk for thyroid disease was 57% higher in people in the highest vs the lowest tertile of BCEP exposure (P = .005).
- A newer method confirmed the positive association between exposure to mixed OPE metabolites and a higher risk for thyroid disease (odds ratio, 1.03; P = .013), with BCEP (65%) being the main contributing factor, followed by DPHP (35%).
- A model from another new method showed a J-shaped relationship between the risk for thyroid disease and increasing levels of BCEP exposure, in which the risk first dropped but then rose with increasing exposure.
IN PRACTICE:
“The three models in our study provided similar results, with exposure to mixed OPEs having a tendency to increase the risk of thyroid disease and pointing to BCEP as the most significant compound responsible for this trend,” wrote the authors.
SOURCE:
This study was led by Yuxin Lin, from the Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China, and published online in Frontiers in Endocrinology.
LIMITATIONS:
The cross-sectional design cannot establish a causal relationship between OPE exposure and thyroid disease. The study used unweighted data, which could have limited the generalizability of the findings. Moreover, urine sample measurements were performed only once.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was supported by the Fujian Natural Science Foundation Program and the Scientific Research Program of High-level Talents of Fujian Medical University. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.