Exploring the relationships between exposure levels of bisphenols and phthalates and prostate cancer occurrence

We established an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for simultaneously analyzing the metabolites of bisphenols and phthalates in urine to identify the associations between these exposure levels and prostate cancer (PCa) based on a casecontrol study. After purifying urine samples with SPE, 18 metabolites were separated on a C18 column, and MS detection was performed. The UPLC-MS/MS method has been proven effective at evaluating bisphenol and phthalate exposure (0.020-0.20 μg/L of the limits of detection, 71.8%~119.4% of recoveries, 0.4%~8.2% of precision). Logistic regression explored the association between exposure level and PCa in 187 PCa cases and 151 controls. The detection rates of bisphenol A (BPA) and most phthalate metabolites were 100% ranging from 0.06-46.74 and 0.12-899.92 μg/g creatinine, respectively, while the detection rates of other bisphenols and mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP) are low, ranging from 0% to 21.85%. Correlation analysis of the metabolite levels indicated that the exposure sources of BPA, di-ethyl phthalate (DEP), and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were different, and that the exposure sources of di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP) may differ between two groups. Logistic regression analysis revealed that BPA (OR<0.45 vs ≥1.43=10.02) and DEHP exposure (OR<21.75 vs ≥45.42=48.26) increased the risk of PCa. Bisphenols and phthalates are two typical types of industrial endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and are therefore considered "hazardous material". Bisphenols and phthalates in the environment enter the human body through various pathways and disrupt normal human endocrine activity. This work explored the relationships between exposure levels of bisphenols and phthalates and prostate cancer occurrence.