Amid growing concerns that endocrine disruptors (also known as environmental hormones) cause increased obesity and diabetes in modern society, a large-scale study found that exposure to phthalates, a type of endocrine disruptor, is related to the increased risk of obesity in children and adolescents in Korea.
This is the result of analyzing the concentration of bisphenol A in vivo of 2,351 children aged 3 to 17 years old who participated in the third survey of the National Environmental Health (2015-2017) by Professor Park Mi-jung of the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescents at Sanggye Paik Hospital.
Phthalates are used as plasticizers to easily process polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products, used to process various products such as flooring materials, food packaging materials, plastic containers, and medical storage containers, and are also used to fragrance personal hygiene products such as shampoo and cosmetics. It is known that exposure to the human body occurs through various channels such as ingestion of phthalate-containing food from packaging materials, contact with phthalate-containing products, or inhalation of contaminated air.
The researchers reported that the concentrations of diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) metabolites detected in urine of Korean children and adolescents were relatively higher than those of the U.S., Canada, and Germany, and that among phthalates, especially those with high diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) metabolite concentrations were about 60% higher than those of low.
Professor Park Mi-jung said, "Phthalates are endocrine disruptors that have been suspected of causing obesity by activating PPAR-gamma (Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-gamma), which plays an important role in differentiation and lipid metabolism of fat cells, and inhibiting the function of thyroid hormone. The large-scale study showed that exposure to diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is linked to the risk of obesity in children and adolescents in Korea," he said.
Professor Kim Shin-hye said, "The level of phthalate exposure was higher in preschool children than adolescents, which is believed to be due to the higher absorption rate of toxic substances through ingestion, inhalation, and contact with younger people." Household goods and children's habit of sucking their fingers into their mouths are also factors that make children vulnerable to phthalate exposure. Taking care of the items that touch children's hands and mouths and removing phthalate-containing dust through regular cleaning helps prevent exposure," he said.
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon
(Picture from Unsplash)
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