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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1505578

Urinary Bisphenol A and its Substitutes Exposure Increased the Risk of Renal Tubular Injury (N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase) in the general Taiwanese population

Provisionally accepted
YU JUNG LIN YU JUNG LIN 1Jung-Wei Chang Jung-Wei Chang 2Han-Bin Huang Han-Bin Huang 3Hsin-Chang Chen Hsin-Chang Chen 4Wan-Ting Chang Wan-Ting Chang 1Po-Chin Huang Po-Chin Huang 1*
  • 1 National Institute of Environmental Medicine, National Health Research Institutes (Taiwan), Zhunan, Taiwan
  • 2 Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 3 School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 4 Department of Chemistry, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    It is uncertain if exposure to BPA and its substitutes has an impact on renal function, including N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), which is an early marker for kidney injury. We aimed to 1) Estimate the daily intakes (DIs) of BPA and its substitutes using individual urinary levels and conduct the cumulative risk assessment of bisphenols. 2) Assessed the association between exposure to BPA and its substitutes with various renal function indices using a dose-based and cumulative risk assessment approach.Methods: We recruited 366 participants, and three bisphenols (BPA, bisphenol F, and bisphenol S) were analyzed through ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. DI levels were calculated for each bisphenol. Hazard index (HI) values were calculated for determining cumulative risk. Using the renal function index, we measured the serum and urinary level (e.g., microalbumin, NAG). The NAG/Creatinine ratio (> 4 IU/g creatinine) and other renal functions indexes based on clinical cut-off points to defined abnormality.After adjustment for covariates, increased NAG/Creatinine ratios were associated with higher DIs of BPA, showing a dose-response trend (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] tertile2: 3.58, 95% CI = 1.52-8.44; AOR tertile3: 7.34, 95% CI = 2.26-23.81; Ptrend < 0.001). Notably, the HI of bisphenols was positively associated with NAG/Creatinine in adults (AOR tertile2= 2.18, 95% CI = 1.10-4.34; AOR tertile3= 4.27, 95% CI = 2.14-8.51) after adjusted for covariates.We found a sensitive risk factor for abnormal NAG/creatinine levels was after exposure to BPA and its substitute. Further mechanistic studies are needed to clarify these associations.

    Keywords: Bisphenol A substitutes, Hazard index, cumulative risk assessment, renal damage, Taiwan, bisphenol A

    Received: 03 Oct 2024; Accepted: 09 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 LIN, Chang, Huang, Chen, Chang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Po-Chin Huang, National Institute of Environmental Medicine, National Health Research Institutes (Taiwan), Zhunan, Taiwan

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