Blood and Urinary Bisphenol A Concentrations in Children, Adults, and Pregnant Women from China: Partitioning between Blood and Urine and Maternal and Fetal Cord Blood

Limited information exists on exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) by children, adults, and pregnant women in China. In the present study, we determined BPA concentrations in whole blood collected from 10 children (1–5 years), 40 women (30 pregnant and 10 nonpregnant), and 30 fetuses (i.e., cord blood). Further, to evaluate the relationship between urinary and blood BPA concentrations, paired specimens of blood and urine (n = 50 pairs) were collected from an adult population. BPA was found in 46% of all blood samples analyzed, with a geometric mean (GM) concentration of 0.19 ng/mL. BPA was found in 84% of urine samples from adults, with a GM concentration of 1.01 ng/mL [0.48 μg/g creatinine (Cr)]. Gender and age were not good predictors of blood BPA concentrations. However, we did find that the creatinine-adjusted urinary BPA concentrations in females were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the concentrations found in males and that the blood BPA concentrations in children were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the concentrations found in adults. Among all adults, unadjusted urinary BPA concentrations (i.e., volume-based) were inversely (r = −0.312, p < 0.05) correlated with age when an outlier value (8.70 ng/mL) was excluded from analysis. Concentrations of BPA in urine (creatinine-adjusted) and blood were significantly correlated (r = 0.571, p < 0.01), with concentrations measured in urine approximately an order of magnitude higher than the concentrations found in blood. The mean and GM values for ratios of concentration of BPA between blood and urine were 0.109 and 0.057, respectively. The ratio of mean concentrations of BPA between cord blood and maternal blood was 0.108. On the basis of urinary BPA levels, we estimated the total daily intake (EDI) of BPA by Chinese adults. The mean (range) EDIs of BPA by adult males and females in China were 0.041 (<0.005–0.224) and 0.048 (<0.005–0.151) ug/kg bw/day, respectively. The pregnant women who underwent intravenous drug administration immediately before delivery had significantly higher concentrations of BPA in their blood than did those who did not receive intravenous drug administration. This is the first study to document the occurrence of and human exposure to BPA by pregnant women and fetuses from China.