Explore the vast range of titles available.

Backround: Laboratory and human studies raise concerns about endocrine disruption and asthma from exposure to chemicals in consumer products. Limited labeling or testing information is available to evaluate products as exposure sources. Objectives: We analytically quantified endocrine disruptors and asthma-related chemicals in a range of cosmetics, personal care products, cleaners, sunscreens, and vinyl products. We also evaluated whether product labels provide information that can be used to select products without these chemicals. Methods: We selected 213 commercial products representing 50 product types. We tested 42 composited samples of high-market-share products, and we tested 43 alternative products identified using criteria expected to minimize target compounds. Analytes included parabens, phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), triclosan, ethanolamines, alkylphenols, fragrances, glycol ethers, cyclosiloxanes, and ultraviolet (UV) filters. Results: We detected 55 compounds, indicating a wide range of exposures from common products. Vinyl products contained > 10% bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and could be an important source of DEHP in homes. In other products, the highest concentrations and numbers of detects were in the fragranced products (e.g., perfume, air fresheners, and dryer sheets) and in sunscreens. Some products that did not contain the well-known endocrine-disrupting phthalates contained other less-studied phthalates (dicyclohexyl phthalate, diisononyl phthalate, and di-n-propyl phthalate; also endocrine-disrupting compounds), suggesting a substitution. Many detected chemicals were not listed on product labels. Conclusions: Common products contain complex mixtures of EDCs and asthma-related compounds. Toxicological studies of these mixtures are needed to understand their biological activity. Regarding epidemiology, our findings raise concern about potential confounding from co-occurring chemicals and misclassification due to variability in product composition. Consumers should be able to avoid some target chemicals—synthetic fragrances, BPA, and regulated active ingredients— using purchasing criteria. More complete product labeling would enable consumers to avoid the rest of the target chemicals.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are used in a wide range of consumer products for their water- and grease-resistant properties, but few studies have explored this exposure route. We used multiple regression to investigate associations between six self-reported behaviors hypothesized to influence PFAS exposure and serum concentrations of six PFAS chemicals in 178 middle-aged women enrolled in the Child Health and Development Studies, about half of whom are African American. Blood samples were collected in 2010–2013, and participants were interviewed about behavior in 2015–2016. Results showed that African American women had lower levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) compared with non-Hispanic white women. In African Americans, but not others, frequent consumption of prepared food in coated cardboard containers was associated with higher levels of four PFASs. Flossing with Oral-B Glide, having stain-resistant carpet or furniture, and living in a city served by a PFAS-contaminated water supply were also associated with higher levels of some PFASs. Product testing using particle-induced γ-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy confirmed that Oral-B Glide and competitor flosses contained detectable fluorine. Despite the delay between blood collection and interview, these results strengthen the evidence for exposure to PFASs from food packaging and implicate exposure from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-based dental floss for the first time.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) are high-productionvolume chemicals used in plastics and resins for food packaging. They have been associated with endocrine disruption in animals and in some human studies. Human exposure sources have been estimated, but the relative contribution of dietary exposure to total intake has not been studied empirically. Objectives: To evaluate the contribution of food packaging to exposure, we measured urinary BPA and phthalate metabolites before, during, and after a \"fresh foods\" dietary intervention. Methods: We selected 20 participants in five families based on self-reported use of canned and packaged foods. Participants ate their usual diet, followed by 3 days of \"fresh foods\" that were not canned or packaged in plastic, and then returned to their usual diet. We collected evening urine samples over 8 days in January 2010 and composited them into preintervention, during intervention, and postintervention samples. We used mixed-effects models for repeated measures and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to assess change in urinary levels across time. Results: Urine levels of BPA and DEHP metabolites decreased significantly during the fresh foods intervention [e. g., BPA geometric mean (GM), 3.7 ng/mL preintervention vs. 1.2 ng/mL during intervention; mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxy hexyl) phthalate GM, 57 ng/mL vs. 25 ng/mL]. The intervention reduced GM concentrations of BPA by 66% and DEHP metabolites by 53-56%. Maxima were reduced by 76% for BPA and 93-96% for DEHP metabolites. Conclusions: BPA and DEHP exposures were substantially reduced when participants' diets were restricted to food with limited packaging.

Black women are disproportionately affected by hormone-related health conditions, which may result from higher exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in consumer products. EDCs are chemicals that interfere with the body's natural hormones. The Product Options in Women-Engaged Research project was developed to educate Black women about EDCs. We assessed the impact of strategic social media influencer (SMI) communication on knowledge and awareness of EDCs and intentions to change product-use behaviors. We recruited 7 SMIs to engage with their audiences about EDC-related information on Instagram. The SMIs attended a workshop to learn about EDCs in consumer products and then created Instagram content to share with their audiences. We surveyed SMIs at baseline and 1 month after they shared EDC-related content. SMI audiences were surveyed cross-sectionally before and after the SMIs posted EDC-related social media content. We evaluated social media engagement and analyzed the impact of these communications on SMIs and their audience. The social media posts reached over 16,000 accounts and elicited over 28,000 engagements (eg, views, likes, and shares). SMIs' EDC knowledge and awareness increased after attending the workshop and sharing newly created content, and the SMIs had greater intentions to avoid EDCs at follow-up than at baseline. Engagement with the social media content about EDCs also led to positive outcomes among SMI audiences and particularly impacted intentions to engage in exposure reduction behaviors. In total, 80% of follow-up survey respondents reported that, in the future, they will always consider a company's chemical policy (n=68) and product ingredients when shopping (n=73) compared to 26.8% (n=63) and 46.9% (n=115), respectively, of baseline survey respondents who already reported doing so (P<.001). More follow-up respondents than baseline respondents self-reported an intention to avoid parabens (n=33, 32.7% vs n=39, 15.3%; P<.001), bisphenol A (n=25, 24.8% vs n=38, 14.9%; P=.03), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (n=17, 16.8% vs n=9, 3.5%; P<.001), and fragrance (n=6, 5.9% vs n=5, 2.0%; P=.08). Our findings demonstrate that strategic SMI partnerships incorporating a culturally tailored training program can be used to reach large audiences of Black women, improve knowledge about EDCs, and promote intentions to change behaviors to reduce exposures to EDCs.

Background Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which interfere with the body’s natural hormones, are ubiquitous in everyday environments and consumer products. Nearly everyone is routinely exposed, and growing evidence links them to adverse health outcomes including cancers, impaired fertility, metabolic disorders, and neurodevelopmental effects. Major medical and scientific groups recommend exposure reduction. To make informed decisions about individual- and societal-level exposures to EDCs, people need relevant knowledge. Knowledge is one component of environmental health literacy, a multidimensional concept supporting readiness to protect health from environmental risks. This study sought to develop expert consensus about communications targets for EDCs and to learn how public knowledge matches these targets. Methods We convened focus groups with community-engaged research teams ( n  = 38) to define targets for public understanding. We coded transcripts, mapped causal pathways influencing EDC exposures and health outcomes using a mental models approach, and identified communication priorities. We then fielded a quantitative online survey among adults living in the U.S. ( n  = 504) to compare their knowledge with the mental model. We computed response frequencies and used multiple regression to evaluate associations between a knowledge index and participant characteristics. Results Focus group participants highlighted that people need to know that EDCs affect nearly all systems in the human body and that scientific evidence supports limiting exposure. They emphasized that policy controls can be more effective than personal action at reducing exposure, and that current U.S. chemicals regulations are not protective. Survey respondents were generally aware that EDCs can affect fertility, cancer, and child brain development (84–90%, n  = 426–452), and they had some understanding of exposure pathways (58–86%, n  = 295–435). However, most participants had large knowledge gaps about U.S. chemicals regulation and wrongly believed that chemicals must be safety-tested before being used in products (82%, n  = 414), that product ingredients must be disclosed (73%, n  = 368), and that restricted chemicals cannot be replaced by similar substitutes (63%, n  = 317). Conclusions U.S. adults typically understood that EDCs affect health. However, incomplete information about how people get exposed to EDCs and misconceptions about U.S. chemicals regulations limit appropriate actions. These knowledge gaps are targets for future communications about EDCs and harmful chemicals more broadly.

Understanding the short- and long-term impacts of a biomonitoring and exposure project and reporting personal results back to study participants is critical for guiding future efforts, especially in the context of environmental justice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate learning outcomes from environmental communication efforts and whether environmental health literacy goals were met in an environmental justice community. We conducted 14 interviews with parents who had participated in the University of Arizona’s Metals Exposure Study in Homes and analyzed their responses using NVivo, a qualitative data management and analysis program. Key findings were that participants used the data to cope with their challenging circumstances, the majority of participants described changing their families’ household behaviors, and participants reported specific interventions to reduce family exposures. The strength of this study is that it provides insight into what people learn and gain from such results communication efforts, what participants want to know, and what type of additional information participants need to advance their environmental health literacy. This information can help improve future report back efforts and advance environmental health and justice.

Exposure to chemicals that cause rodent mammary gland tumors is common, but few studies have evaluated potential breast cancer risks of these chemicals in humans. The goal of this review was to identify and bring together the needed tools to facilitate the measurement of biomarkers of exposure to potential breast carcinogens in breast cancer studies and biomonitoring. We conducted a structured literature search to identify measurement methods for exposure biomarkers for 102 chemicals that cause rodent mammary tumors. To evaluate concordance, we compared human and animal evidence for agents identified as plausibly linked to breast cancer in major reviews. To facilitate future application of exposure biomarkers, we compiled information about relevant cohort studies. Exposure biomarkers have been developed for nearly three-quarters of these rodent mammary carcinogens. Analytical methods have been published for 73 of the chemicals. Some of the remaining chemicals could be measured using modified versions of existing methods for related chemicals. In humans, biomarkers of exposure have been measured for 62 chemicals, and for 45 in a nonoccupationally exposed population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has measured 23 in the U.S. population. Seventy-five of the rodent mammary carcinogens fall into 17 groups, based on exposure potential, carcinogenicity, and structural similarity. Carcinogenicity in humans and rodents is generally consistent, although comparisons are limited because few agents have been studied in humans. We identified 44 cohort studies, with a total of > 3.5 million women enrolled, that have recorded breast cancer incidence and stored biological samples. Exposure measurement methods and cohort study resources are available to expand biomonitoring and epidemiology related to breast cancer etiology and prevention.

Study participants want to receive their biomonitoring results for environmental chemicals, and ethics guidelines encourage reporting back. However, few studies have quantitively assessed participants' responses to individual exposure reports, and digital methods have not been evaluated. We isolated effects of receiving personal results vs. only study-wide findings and investigated whether effects differed for Black participants. We randomly assigned a subset of 295 women from the Child Health and Development Studies, half of whom were Black, to receive a report with personal environmental chemical results or only study-wide (aggregate) findings. Reports included results for 42 chemicals and lipids and were prepared using the Digital Exposure Report-Back Interface (DERBI). Women were interviewed before and after viewing their report. We analyzed differences in website activity, emotional responses, and intentions to participate in future research by report type and race using Wilcoxon rank sum tests, Wilcoxon-Pratt signed ranks tests, and multiple regression. The personal report group spent approximately twice as much time on their reports as the aggregate group before the post-report-back interview. Among personal-report participants ( ), 84% (78) viewed chemical group information for at least one personal result highlighted on their home page; among aggregate-report participants ( ), 66% (62) viewed any chemical group page. Both groups reported strong positive feelings (curious, informed, interested, respected) about receiving results before and after report-back and mild negative feelings (helpless, scared, worried). Although most participants remained unworried after report-back, worry increased by a small amount in both groups. Among Black participants, higher post report-back worry was associated with having high levels of chemicals. Participants were motivated by their personal results to access online information about chemical sources and potential health effects. Report-back was associated with a small increase in worry, which could motivate appropriate action. Personal report-back increased engagement with exposure reports among Black participants. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9072.

Sharing research data uses resources effectively; enables large, diverse data sets; and supports rigor and reproducibility. However, sharing such data increases privacy risks for participants who may be re-identified by linking study data to outside data sets. These risks have been investigated for genetic and medical records but rarely for environmental data. We evaluated how data in environmental health (EH) studies may be vulnerable to linkage and we investigated, in a case study, whether environmental measurements could contribute to inferring latent categories (e.g., geographic location), which increases privacy risks. We identified 12 prominent EH studies, reviewed the data types collected, and evaluated the availability of outside data sets that overlap with study data. With data from the Household Exposure Study in California and Massachusetts and the Green Housing Study in Boston, Massachusetts, and Cincinnati, Ohio, we used -means clustering and principal component analysis to investigate whether participants' region of residence could be inferred from measurements of chemicals in household air and dust. All 12 studies included at least two of five data types that overlap with outside data sets: geographic location (9 studies), medical data (9 studies), occupation (10 studies), housing characteristics (10 studies), and genetic data (7 studies). In our cluster analysis, participants' region of residence could be inferred with 80%-98% accuracy using environmental measurements with original laboratory reporting limits. EH studies frequently include data that are vulnerable to linkage with voter lists, tax and real estate data, professional licensing lists, and ancestry websites, and exposure measurements may be used to identify subgroup membership, increasing likelihood of linkage. Thus, unsupervised sharing of EH research data potentially raises substantial privacy risks. Empirical research can help characterize risks and evaluate technical solutions. Our findings reinforce the need for legal and policy protections to shield participants from potential harms of re-identification from data sharing. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4817.

Background Emerging evidence about the effects of endocrine disruptors on asthma symptoms suggests new opportunities to reduce asthma by changing personal environments. Right-to-know ethics supports returning personal results for these chemicals to participants, so they can make decisions to reduce exposures. Yet researchers and institutional review boards have been reluctant to approve results reports in low-income communities, which are disproportionately affected by asthma. Concerns include limited literacy, lack of resources to reduce exposures, co-occurring stressors, and lack of models for effective reporting. To better understand the ethical and public health implications of returning personal results in low-income communities, we investigated parents’ experiences of learning their children’s environmental chemical and biomonitoring results in the Green Housing Study of asthma. Methods The Green Housing Study measured indoor chemical exposures, allergens, and children’s asthma symptoms in “green”-renovated public housing and control sites in metro-Boston and Cincinnati in 2011–2013. We developed reports for parents of children in the study, including results for their child and community. We observed community meetings where results were reported, and metro-Boston residents participated in semi-structured interviews in 2015 about their report-back experience. Interviews were systematically coded and analyzed. Results Report-back was positively received, contributed to greater understanding, built trust between researchers and participants, and facilitated action to improve health. Sampling visits and community meetings also contributed to creating a positive study experience for participants. Participants were able to make changes in their homes, such as altering product use and habits that may reduce asthma symptoms, though some faced roadblocks from family members. Participants also gained access to medical resources, though some felt that clinicians were not responsive. Participants wanted larger scale change from government or industry and wanted researchers to leverage study results to achieve change. Conclusions Report-back on environmental chemical exposures in low-income communities can enhance research benefits by engaging residents with personally relevant information that informs and motivates actions to reduce exposure to asthma triggers. Ethical practices in research should support deliberative report-back in vulnerable communities.