Exposure of children to phthalates and the impact of consumer practices in Slovakia.

Phthalates are environmental pollutants that can enter the human body by ingestion, inhalation and dermal absorption. Food constitutes the most important source of human exposure to these chemicals. The aim of our study was the biological monitoring of exposure to eight phthalate metabolites in children (n=107), 10-12 years of age, living in eastern Slovakia. Additionally, we analysed some associations between anthropometric measures, questionnaire data (i.e. eating and drinking habits, practice of personal care products) and concentrations of phthalate metabolites. Because of the short half-life of phthalates, within 24-48 h, we used 24-h recalls to assess dietary intakes. We used high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of spot urine samples to determine concentrations of phthalate metabolites mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate, mono-iso-butyl phthalate, mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP), mono (2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (5OH-MEHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (5oxo-MEHP), mono-carboxy pentyl and mono (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP). We found statistically significant association between consumer practices and concentration of some phthalate metabolites, concretely consumption of milk and dairy products with MBzP and margarine with MEP (p<0.01 in both cases) and margarine with 5oxo-MEHP, hot beverages with 5OH-MEHP, baguettes and semifinished products with MEP (p<0.05 in all cases). Further, we found relationship between use of cosmetic products and phthalate concentrations, nail polish application and MEP and use of body lotion and MEHP (p<0.05 in both cases). We concluded that consumer practices (including eating and drinking habits and personal care) represent the substantial source of phthalate exposure in Slovak children.

Occupational exposure to phthalates in relation to gender, consumer practices and body composition.

The aim of our work was to find associations between urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and occupation, consumer practices and body composition. We divided our cohort (n = 129) into occupationally exposed subjects, community service workers (group A; n = 45) and workers from plastic industry (group B; n = 35) and group of general population (control group C, n = 49). To estimate levels of five phthalate metabolites, we used high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry analysis. We found in plastic industry workers compared to community service workers and subjects of the control group significantly higher urinary concentration mono (2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono (2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), mono (2-etylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), sum di-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (DEHP), mono-iso-butyl phthalate (MiBP) and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP). We identified by multivariate analysis of covariance inverse relationship between MEHP and body parameters as waist-to-height ratio, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, hip circumference and waist circumference among females, whereas in males, no significant association was found. Results of our study show, despite of variability in terms of occupational exposure to phthalates, that plastic manufactory represents a higher occupational risk in comparison with waste management. The differences in anthropometric parameters between the two occupationally exposed groups and the general population are suggesting a detrimental effect of occupational exposure on body weight homeostasis.

Marijuana: Views on Its Medical Use Recorded at the Slovak Social Network.

We describe opinions on medical use of Cannabis sativa L under conditions of Slovakia (n = 717). Personal experience with marijuana was detected in 77.42% (n = 553) in age categories younger than 20 years (n = 96) and in 77.06% (n = 457) of adults. Almost 86% of respondents (n = 618) agreed with legal use of marijuana for medical purposes. Furthermore, respondents' views on legal usage of marijuana for medical purposes could be affected by availability of information (r = .12) and personal experience (r = .23). Negative impact of substance abuse in younger age-groups was recognized as threat (r = .47), but knowledge about harmful effect of marijuana use did not affect personal opinion for decriminalization (r = .38).

Relationship between variation of seasonal temperature and extent of occupational exposure to phthalates.

Spot urine samples were collected in summer and winter season to examine the association between temperature variation and phthalate concentration in an occupationally exposed group. We analysed samples by high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to determine the concentrations of four phthalate metabolites: mono (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), monobutyl phthalate (MnBP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP), and monoisononyl phthalate (MiNP). We observed significantly higher urinary concentrations of all monitored phthalate metabolites collected during the summer in occupationally exposed group (MEP p < 0.0015, MiNP p < 0.0001, MnBP p < 0.00019, and MEHP p < 0.05); however, in general, population was noticed this difference only for MEHP (p < 0.05) in winter season. We conclude that increasing indoor and outdoor temperature is related to phthalate exposure in specific types of work environment.

Phthalate exposure and health-related outcomes in specific types of work environment.

Many toxic substances in the workplace can modify human health and quality of life and there is still insufficient data on respiratory outcomes in adults exposed to phthalates. The aim of this work was to assess in waste management workers from the Nitra region of Slovakia (n = 30) the extent of exposure to phthalates and health-related outcomes. Four urinary phthalate metabolites mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), monobutyl phthalate (MnBP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP) and monoisononyl phthalate (MiNP) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Urinary concentration of MEHP was positively associated with ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity % (FEV1/FVC) (r = 0.431; p = 0.018) and MiNP with fat free mass index (FFMI) (r = 0.439; p = 0.015). The strongest predictor of pulmonary function was the pack/year index as smoking history that predicted a decrease of pulmonary parameters, the FEV1/FVC, % of predicted values of peak expiratory flow (PEF % of PV) and FEV1 % of PV. Unexpectedly, urinary MEHP and MINP were positively associated with pulmonary function expressed as PEF % of PV and FEV1/FVC. We hypothesize that occupational exposure to phthalates estimated from urinary metabolites (MEHP, MiNP) can modify pulmonary function on top of lifestyle factors.

Use of selected prediction equations (CG, MDRD4, CKD-EPI) in improving glomerular filtration rate assessment in clinical practice in Slovakia.

Our study aimed to establish the best prediction equation for different age ranges in estimating Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) in clinical practice in Slovakia. The GFR by 24-hour creatinine clearance (Ccr) and the estimated GFR (eGFR) using the Cockcroft-Gault (CG), the four-variable Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD4) and the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equations were obtained in adults aged 30-80 (n = 433, 10-years intervals). The correlation between these prediction equations and Ccr was evaluated. Errors in prediction equations were detected by moving average and by comparisons of the formulas for GFR < 1.5 ml/s and > 1.5 ml/s. The best correlations were established between Ccr and MDRD4 for women (r = 0.7790) and men (r = 0.8009), and between Ccr and CKD-EPI for women (r = 0.7780) and men (r = 0.8002) in the 60-69 age range. High correlation was also established between Ccr and CG (r = 0.8655) and MDRD4 (r = 0.8713) for men in the 40-49 age range. With the exception of the 30-40 age range, a low prediction error was observed for each age range in both genders when GFR was < 1.5 ml/s. We recommend utilization of the MDRD4 and CG equations for men (40-49 years) and MDRD4 and CKD-EPI for women and men (60-69 years), as preferred substitutes for Ccr.